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Extended through April 22, 2023

Adam McEwen

XXIII

February 10–April 22, 2023
Rome

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Installation video

Installation view with Adam McEwen, Big Spears (2023) Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view with Adam McEwen, Big Spears (2023)

Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Adam McEwen. Photo: Matteo D’Eletto, M3 Studio

Works Exhibited

Adam McEwen, Big Spears, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 130 inches (213.4 × 330.2 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Big Spears, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 130 inches (213.4 × 330.2 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Materiel, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Materiel, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Bulletin, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Bulletin, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Motley Krew, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Motley Krew, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Kling Klang, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Kling Klang, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Fog, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Fog, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Good Night, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Good Night, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Procession, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Procession, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Colosseo No.1, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 37 inches (152.4 × 94 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Colosseo No.1, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 37 inches (152.4 × 94 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Colosseo No.2, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 37 inches (152.4 × 94 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Colosseo No.2, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 37 inches (152.4 × 94 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Colosseo No.6, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 37 inches (152.4 × 94 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Colosseo No.6, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 37 inches (152.4 × 94 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Colosseo No.3, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 37 inches (152.4 × 94 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Colosseo No.3, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 37 inches (152.4 × 94 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Colosseo No.5, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 37 inches (152.4 × 94 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Colosseo No.5, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 37 inches (152.4 × 94 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Untitled, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Untitled, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Untitled, 2023 Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

Adam McEwen, Untitled, 2023

Acrylic on canvas, 84 × 65 inches (213.4 × 165.1 cm)
© Adam McEwen. Photo: Rob McKeever

About

Gagosian is pleased to announce XXIII, an exhibition of new paintings by Adam McEwen. Opening on February 10, 2023, this is McEwen’s debut solo exhibition with the gallery in Italy.

The protagonist of the works in XXIII is the ballpoint pen, an ubiquitous and instantly recognizable icon of modern design. McEwen transforms the transparent, hexagonal shapes of the pen into flat, schematic renderings in acrylic paint that accentuate both their linear forms and their creative potential. The works’ dimensions are slightly larger than those of a tall person, while their compositions suggest relationships that are both mechanical and figurative in their implications.

In their defamiliarization of the everyday, these paintings relate to the artist’s past works, from life-size sculptures of functional objects milled to scale in graphite to the obituaries of living people that are the focus of his concurrent solo exhibition at Gagosian London (on view from January 26 through March 11, 2023). They also resonate with the appropriation of mechanical drawings into the realm of painting by figures such as Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp, and Roy Lichtenstein.

Read more

Gagosian è lieta di annunciare XXIII, una mostra di nuovi dipinti di Adam McEwen. In apertura il 10 febbraio 2023, questa è la prima mostra personale di McEwen con la galleria in Italia.

Protagonista delle opere in XXIII è la penna a sfera, oggetto onnipresente della vita contemporanea e icona del design moderno. Trasformandone le sagome trasparenti ed esagonali in rappresentazioni piatte e schematiche, McEwen enfatizza sia l’aspetto lineare che il potenziale creativo di questi oggetti attraverso la pittura acrilica. Dalle dimensioni leggermente più grandi di una persona di alta statura, le composizioni di questi dipinti suggeriscono relazioni sia meccaniche che figurative.

Nella loro decontestualizzazione del quotidiano infatti, questi dipinti si ricollegano alle opere passate dell’artista: dalle sculture a grandezza naturale di oggetti fresati in grafite ai necrologi di persone viventi, questi ultimi al centro della sua mostra personale in corso presso Gagosian Londra dal 26 gennaio all’11 marzo 2023. Le opere richiamano inoltre l’appropriazione del disegno meccanico nella pittura di artisti quali Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp e Roy Lichtenstein.

Nella sala principale sette tele rettangolari di identiche dimensioni sottolineano interrelazioni compositive e simboliche: contemporaneamente aggressive e giocose, le opere sembrano suggerire idee e strutture sociali in competizione. Accomunate da sfondi violacei, presentano tinte che vanno dal lavanda al porpora, applicate alternativamente come strati monocromatici e passaggi pittorici in contrasto deciso con le linee delle penne. Il porpora è un colore associato alla storia di Roma fin dall’antichità, dai senatori e imperatori dell'antico impero alle vesti liturgiche, mentre le linee incrociate tracciate dalle penne in molte delle opere ricordano i numeri romani del titolo della mostra.

Disposte in precise linee parallele, le penne a inchiostro rosso di Materiel (2023) puntano verso il basso in una configurazione diagonale che trasmette un senso di ordine militaresco. In Kling Klang (2023) si incrociano tra loro penne a inchiostro nero e rosso le cui linee intrecciate ricordano una sorta di danza o di esercizio fisico. In Procession (2023), il senso di regolarità e ordine è messo in discussione da una penna che rompe i ranghi, mentre Good Night (2023) sostituisce le linee rette delle penne con forme fantasticamente ondeggianti.

Il dipinto più grande della mostra, Big Spear (2023), ricorda la mischia di lance nella Battaglia di San Romano di Paolo Uccello (c. 1435–40, Uffizi, Firenze), un’opera chiave del Maestro rinascimentale per la definizione delle potenzialità della prospettiva lineare. In un’altra sala opere ovali giocano con la forma geometrica che caratterizza la galleria. La disposizione delle penne in questi dipinti assume la forma della croce in Colosseo No.1 (2023), dell’Uroboro, il serpente che si morde la coda in Colosseo No.3 (2023), e del numero 8 o segno dell’infinito in Colosseo No.5 (2023), simboli che risuonano con la storia di Roma e non solo.

Ufficio ​stampa

Gagosian
press@gagosian.com

Toby Kidd
tkidd@gagosian.com
+44 20 7495 1500

PCM Studio
Federica Farci
federica@paolamanfredi.com
+39 342 05 15 787

Press

Gagosian
press@gagosian.com

Toby Kidd
tkidd@gagosian.com
+44 20 7495 1500

PCM Studio
Federica Farci
federica@paolamanfredi.com
+39 342 05 15 787