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all over my head or the economy is the psychology of the world, 2010 terracotta smaltata, legno / glazed earthenware, wood dimensioni variabili / variable sizes |
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opere di / works by nero and damien hirst courtesy © damien hirst / other criteria ltd. veduta della mostra / exibition view |
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opere di / works by nero and liu ye veduta della mostra / exibition view courtesy liu ye |
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opere di / works by nero and pino pascali veduta della mostra / exibition view |
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Heavenly Creatures
Aubin Gallery/London_United
Kingdom
Carlo Berardi interviews Nero
NERO, born in Faenza in 1980, is one of the most exciting up and coming artists on the Italian contemporary art scene. A ceramist by training, his latest works have caught the attention of major European collectors as well as international curators. Artnesia has met him for a quick chat on his most recent series.
Carlo Berardi: Animals are a very common theme in your works. Could you tell us how, when and why did you decide to feature them?
Nero: Right at the beginning of my career, my work dealt with mankind and its intimate and psychological issues. I was working on monsters attempting to describe the daily life of humans in their private realm.
However, five years ago, there was an evolution. I am now using animals to discuss the human behavior and the dynamics of human relations with very subtle references to politics, economics, violence, religion, passion and cult…
I like to say that “Humans are animals, but not in their most evolved form”.
This is the main concept that brought me to modify animal forms in order to talk about society as a whole.
CB: The theme of transfiguration is often present in your works. You take the obvious and make it doubtful. What are you really trying to say?
N: My work bears the legacy of a huge part of classical, religious and contemporary iconography. All these references, funnily enough, very much help to make my work conceptual. I am trying to describe a reality that, although it might seem absurd and surreal, is always present. I am both a protagonist and a victim of this reality.
CB: The titles of your works are very witty. Do you think of the title before making the work or are they personal thoughts while looking at it? Where do they come from?
N: Titles come and go really. I look at them as a way to complete the works. My works are visually very direct, my titles aren’t as much. I like this clash. Often people question what contemporary art is really about and I think, through my titles, I am trying to give a fictitious solution to this puzzle. For me, what is important is to fake reality through surreal actions that bear real foundations.
A selection of Nero's works will be featured in Heavenly Creatures, a group show curated by Artnesia at the Aubin Gallery from the 4th of November to the 18th of December 2010. The exhibition will comprise a selection of works tackling the theme of animals in Contemporary Art and will include works by artists such as Alighiero Boetti, Damien Hirst, George Lilanga, Pablo Picasso and Liu Ye.