"Learning to Live with Other Bodies : Parrots, Bossanova and Architecture"Pedro Neves Marques
Galleria Umberto Di Marino
Via Alabardieri 1, 80121 Napoli, Italy
Tel.+39 081 0609318 Fax +39 081 2142623 mail:
17 January > 22 February, 2017
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The Galleria Umberto Di Marino is delighted to present the solo show of Pedro Neves Marques entitled Learning to Live
with Other Bodies on Tuesday 17 January 2017.
The research conducted by the artist over the years has constantly questioned the premises underlying Modernism and Postmodernism as expressions of a new colonial phase. In all his projects Pedro Neves Marques highlights the transformation, in space and time, of cultural phenomena, architectural forms, political and economic models, and even entire landscapes. As in his essays and literary oeuvre, the perspective adopted in his work emphasises the contradictions of these methods. It encourages an ecological approach to the definition of natural processes, especially in relation to the technological and political sphere, through the use of art in a dialogue with other disciplines.
On this occasion, the layout of the exhibition develops the results of research by focusing on the political and economic links between botany and colonialism. The Pudic Relation Between Machine and Plant shows the “romantic skirmishes” between a robot from the King's College Centre for Robotics Research in London and a Mimosa Pudica, a plant that is highly sensitive to touch and external vibrations. The leaves fold inwards when delicately brushed along their surface by the electronic arm, highlighting the erotic fascination exerted by new technologies, the artificial dimension and the nebulous boundaries of biogenetics. The instinct to modify natural cycles to suit its own needs has always been part of human nature, proceeding more by virtue of competition rather than harmonious interaction. However, during this brief game of seduction, the human element is omitted; it remains a premise, almost unnecessary for finding equilibria and synergies. Originally from South America, this species has become an invasive plant in south-eastern Asia, the Pacific and Australia due to overseas colonial journeys over the last few centuries.
Similarly, monocultures now dictate trade routes and have a huge influence on the morphology of the landscape. This theme is introduced by screen prints made with soya ink, based on nineteenth century illustrations done by the botanist Joseph Banks during his expeditions to the Tropics, which were much talked-about due his frequent sexual excesses. The drawings are superimposed over the contracts drawn up by Monsanto to regulate the ownership of GMO seeds throughout the world, replacing the taxonomic iconography with a series of commodity-related codes and genetic information which raise the question of a linguistic revolution in the representation of nature.
Next to the screen prints is a video which was shot in the south of Brazil inside a factory that transforms soya into biodiesel. Learning to Live with the Enemy is the title of a second video which documents the entire refining process and then follows the export of the fuel across the seas, mainly to China which is one of the world’s greatest consumers.
In the complex geopolitical equilibria responsible for the predominance of one power over another, the conquest of a territory can also be measured in terms of the impact of an economic system upon the environment, the availability of resources, and the relatively favourable conditions for maintaining a healthy environment for the inhabitants of a specific geographical area.
Pedro Neves Marques Lisbon, PT, 1984, lives and works between Lisbon and New York
Selected solo and group show:
2016 The Winter of Our Discontent, curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna
2015 CANIBALIA, curated by Julia Morandeira Arrizabalaga, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris
2014 XII Bienal International de Cuenca, curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti and Manuela Moscoso, Ecuador
2013 Environments, w/ Mariana Silva, e-flux, New York, USA
2012 The Chosen Ones, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon, P
The Integration Process, Parkour, Lisbon, P
2011 When's the End of Celebration?, Galleria Umberto Di Marino, Napoli, I
2010 Uma cortina de fumo/ mármore e vidro, w/ André Romão, Sala do Cinzeiro/Fundação EDP/Museu da Electricidade, Lisbon, P
HaVE A look! Have A Look!, curated by FormContent, FormContent, London, Uk
The Horizon Line is Here – tornare per partire, curated by Lorenzo Bruni, Galleria Umberto Di Marino, Napoli, Italy
2008 A river ain’t too much to love, Spike Island, UK
Eurasia, Anastácio-Gonçalves House Museum, Lisbon, PT
2007 BesRevelation 2007, Serralves Villa – Contemporary Art Museum, Oporto, PT
The research conducted by the artist over the years has constantly questioned the premises underlying Modernism and Postmodernism as expressions of a new colonial phase. In all his projects Pedro Neves Marques highlights the transformation, in space and time, of cultural phenomena, architectural forms, political and economic models, and even entire landscapes. As in his essays and literary oeuvre, the perspective adopted in his work emphasises the contradictions of these methods. It encourages an ecological approach to the definition of natural processes, especially in relation to the technological and political sphere, through the use of art in a dialogue with other disciplines.
On this occasion, the layout of the exhibition develops the results of research by focusing on the political and economic links between botany and colonialism. The Pudic Relation Between Machine and Plant shows the “romantic skirmishes” between a robot from the King's College Centre for Robotics Research in London and a Mimosa Pudica, a plant that is highly sensitive to touch and external vibrations. The leaves fold inwards when delicately brushed along their surface by the electronic arm, highlighting the erotic fascination exerted by new technologies, the artificial dimension and the nebulous boundaries of biogenetics. The instinct to modify natural cycles to suit its own needs has always been part of human nature, proceeding more by virtue of competition rather than harmonious interaction. However, during this brief game of seduction, the human element is omitted; it remains a premise, almost unnecessary for finding equilibria and synergies. Originally from South America, this species has become an invasive plant in south-eastern Asia, the Pacific and Australia due to overseas colonial journeys over the last few centuries.
Similarly, monocultures now dictate trade routes and have a huge influence on the morphology of the landscape. This theme is introduced by screen prints made with soya ink, based on nineteenth century illustrations done by the botanist Joseph Banks during his expeditions to the Tropics, which were much talked-about due his frequent sexual excesses. The drawings are superimposed over the contracts drawn up by Monsanto to regulate the ownership of GMO seeds throughout the world, replacing the taxonomic iconography with a series of commodity-related codes and genetic information which raise the question of a linguistic revolution in the representation of nature.
Next to the screen prints is a video which was shot in the south of Brazil inside a factory that transforms soya into biodiesel. Learning to Live with the Enemy is the title of a second video which documents the entire refining process and then follows the export of the fuel across the seas, mainly to China which is one of the world’s greatest consumers.
In the complex geopolitical equilibria responsible for the predominance of one power over another, the conquest of a territory can also be measured in terms of the impact of an economic system upon the environment, the availability of resources, and the relatively favourable conditions for maintaining a healthy environment for the inhabitants of a specific geographical area.
Pedro Neves Marques Lisbon, PT, 1984, lives and works between Lisbon and New York
Selected solo and group show:
2016 The Winter of Our Discontent, curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna
2015 CANIBALIA, curated by Julia Morandeira Arrizabalaga, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris
2014 XII Bienal International de Cuenca, curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti and Manuela Moscoso, Ecuador
2013 Environments, w/ Mariana Silva, e-flux, New York, USA
2012 The Chosen Ones, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon, P
The Integration Process, Parkour, Lisbon, P
2011 When's the End of Celebration?, Galleria Umberto Di Marino, Napoli, I
2010 Uma cortina de fumo/ mármore e vidro, w/ André Romão, Sala do Cinzeiro/Fundação EDP/Museu da Electricidade, Lisbon, P
HaVE A look! Have A Look!, curated by FormContent, FormContent, London, Uk
The Horizon Line is Here – tornare per partire, curated by Lorenzo Bruni, Galleria Umberto Di Marino, Napoli, Italy
2008 A river ain’t too much to love, Spike Island, UK
Eurasia, Anastácio-Gonçalves House Museum, Lisbon, PT
2007 BesRevelation 2007, Serralves Villa – Contemporary Art Museum, Oporto, PT
Opening :
Tuesday 17 January 2017 from 7pm to 10pm
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