Domestic Alien

Private View:  17 November 2017 | 6 – 8 PM

Exhibiting artists:
Franz Ackermann
El Anatsui
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Richard Wilson

Gazelli Art House is delighted to present a curated group exhibition drawing together four internationally acclaimed artists first-time exhibited in Baku, Azerbaijan – Franz Ackermann, El Anatsui, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Richard Wilson. A rare opportunity to see a grouping of pioneering works, Domestic Alien is a show that explores and challenges a diverse range of present-day themes and issues. Underlined by the concept of displacement, the show encourages a dialogue on differences in societal and cultural values, notions of domesticity, and the impact of globalisation.

Franz Ackermann’s imagined and whimsical landscapes disorient yet engulf the viewer in a world full of colour and abstraction. Exhibiting his most recent works, Chess Me and Direction Away (2016), Ackermann’s sublime work has been widely recognised as critical political commentary on the contemporary issues of tourism and globalisation. A labyrinth of biotic generalisations, what seems to be unstructured, compositions work in paradoxical harmony to provide a common ground. The fantasy world is subsequently unravelled, inviting and all-inclusive. Addressing a vast range of social, political and historical concerns throughout a distinguished fourty-year career, El Anatsui’s powerful assemblages have provoked wide international attention. Transforming simple and discarded materials into complex installation sculptures, Anatsui explores issues of consumption, transformation and the environment, pervasive in discussions of colonialism. Representing “links in the evolving narrative of memory and identity” , the works trigger a sense of continuity between generations in light of movement within and between nations worldwide.

Globally acclaimed as one of the most influential contemporary artists of his generation, Michelangelo Pistoletto’s pioneering approach serves to reconfigure the relationship between art and life. Commenting on his renowned Mirror Paintings, Pistoletto elaborates on the use of reflective surfaces to “create a place by bringing about a passage between the photograph and the mirror”. Engrossed within the interactive setting recreated on the surface, the viewer sees at once both a familiar and distorted reality. Richard Wilson, one of Britain’s most renowned sculptors, is celebrated for his interventions within architectural spaces. Drawing inspiration from the worlds of engineering and construction, Wilson offers a new perspective on everyday spaces and objects. The distortion and upturn of otherwise recognisable objects, such as in Blocka Flats (2017) where he borrows from the form of a chest of drawers, prompt a re-assessment of accepted pre-conceptions of reality.

Following the success of the launch of the re-designed space in Baku this year, Gazelli Art House is excited to welcome a truly impressive assemblage of universally celebrated international artists to Azerbaijan.