“WALL DANCING”
PILEVNELI
MANDARIN ORIENTAL, BODRUM
May 12 - June 6, 2021
11:00 - 20.00
PILEVNELI takes the works of important representatives of contemporary art to Bodrum during the summer season. The gallery’s exhibitions meet art admirers at Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum between May and October. Exclusive shows of not only PILEVNELI artists but other names to be announced are presented to the audience at the gallery’s new space inside the hotel.
The first exhibition PILEVNELI holds at Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum is of French artist Daniel Firman. The artist’s solo exhibition titled “Wall Dancing” is open to visitors between the dates May 12 - June 6, 2021.
“Wall Dancing” takes visitors to the starting point of one of the most symbolic series of work that reflect Firman’s practice - the “Attitude”. The “Attitude”, accepted as part of “Pop” sculpture but points much deeper concepts, was born in 2000 when the artist started working on performances that investigated dance protocols at his studio. He created the first of these hiper-realist sculptures depicting human figures that come both in life-size and miniature versions in 2004. “Wall Dancing” includes four new sculptures that belong to the “Attitude” series, as well as three miniature sculpture of another very important and representative series of the artist “Gathering”.
The “Attitude” sculptures resemble photographs of paused dance performances. In these works, the artist aims to reflect the reality itself without the interference of visual expression or any particular style. This realistic turmoil reflected in Firman’s work proves that the body and physical attitude are identifiable and the body is firmly positioned by the support points. This element aims to reveal deep thoughts about the paused continuity and time.
The earthiness and temporality of the works direct the visitor’s attention to the notions of movement, dance and bodily expression. It creates a distinct tension about what we know and what we don’t know. Can sculpture be motion? Can a performance be sculpted? Is movement also a sculpture? Is immobility mobile? Many questions about the ‘truth’ and ‘representation’ of reality…
The sculptures in the "Gathering" series, which took place in many noteworthy art institutions including Centre Pompidou and in "10 Artists / 10 Individual Practices" exhibition held at PILEVNELI Mecidiyeköy in 2018, offer a contemporary interpretation of the relationship between human and objects, questions the depth and meaning of this relationship in the capitalist, fast-moving consumption world.