Gianluca Malgeri & Arina Endo: Let me count the ways
PRESS RELEASE:
Let Me Count the Ways is the title of the new exhibition that Gianluca Malgeri and Arina Endo will be presenting at The Loop Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. The exhibition will open June 3rd, 2023 and stay until ...... 2023.
Let Me Count the Ways marks yet another collaboration between Malgeri and Endo, thus bringing to completion a circle started in 2015 with the exhibitions Edge of Chaos (Venice, curated by Vita Zaman) and Homo Ludens (Magazzino, Rome), then moved on with Mery-Go-Round (2019, Ayumi, Tokyo). Their artistic research evolved through several stages: with Let Me Count the Ways, the duo is now moving towards new developments and directions, likely in a less programmatic manner compared to the previous installments.
The first works realized by Malgeri and Endo in 2015 revolved around imaginary and fantastic
cities, which were built by assembling parts of children's playground (that the artists began
studying in 2013) into three-dimensional collages. The evolution of this logic led to the transformation of these "cities" into a complex organism, linked to the figure of Pinocchio and his inner journey to overcome childhood.
Again, in 2019, the two artists injected new life into this body of works by imagining new, flying structures, individually envisioned but also pictured as articulated and "light" systems that invited the viewer to imagine themselves in a space beyond the earthly realm (Mery-Go-Round).
In Let me Count the Ways, the artists opt for a composition of individual elements and showcase a series of works that refer to a "homecoming", after following imaginary, inner and orbital trajectories. Each artwork in the exhibition, in some way, contains the previous ones and opens up to possible and new developments; like a multi-directional walk, the exhibition seems to remind us of the importance of moving forward, whilst being mindful of the new energy gained from the steps already taken.
Like Klee's Angelus Novus, "The storm pushes his wings irresistibly towards the future. This storm
is what we call progress."
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Gianluca Malgeri (ジャンルカ・マルジェリ)
Born in southern Italy, attended the painting course at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence from 1996 to 2000. In 1998, he obtained his first publication in Flash Art, a renowned Italian art magazine. In 2001, he participated in an artist residency at the Ratti Foundation in Como, where he had the opportunity to meet Marina Abramovic and later teamed up with her for several projects. From 2002 to 2004, he attended the advanced course in visual arts at the IUAV University in Venice. During this period, he had the chance to meet Olafur Eliasson and subsequently worked in his Berlin studio from 2004 to 2008. Since 2008, Gianluca Malgeri has been fully dedicated to his artistic work.
Arina Endo (エンドウ・アリナ)
Born in Hyogo, Japan in 1983, graduated in Architecture and Design from the Kyoto Institute of Technology in 2007. After graduating, she worked as a graphic designer at a marketing and creativity agency in Osaka for several years. In 2010-2011, she pursued her passion for printmaking in Florence, Italy, studying etching at the International School of Graphic Arts "Il Bisonte." She specialized in traditional techniques, particularly aquatint, and created illustrations and graphic works centered around alphabet motifs. Her works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions, as well as art fairs.