Fragmented Pursuits: Chasing Stories
Fragmented Pursuits: Chasing Stories, is an exhibition curated by Edoardo Monti, and it presents unpublished works by Carlos Casuso (Perugia, 1995) and Julia Gutman (Sydney, 1993). Using colored pencils on paper and fabrics with stitching, Casuso and Gutman invite us into a fragmented world where we both pursue and are pursued.
Julia Gutman showcases textile works crafted from donated or found fabrics, enhanced with intricate hand embroidery and machine stitching. These tapestries are at times placed on wooden frames for structure and shape, while in other cases, they hang freely from extended metal chains. The language and history of painting have a big influence on her artworks.
Gutman created the entire body of work during the month of June 2023 at the Palazzo Monti artist residency in Brescia. The architectural elements decorating the building, including the eighteenth-century frescoes, strongly influenced the subjects, color palette, and compositions of the works produced during her stay. Gutman refrains from using preparatory sketches and does not base her figures on analog or digital images. Instead, she constructs tapestries using personal memories, fragmented stories, and faint images stored in a private, non-photographic memory. The subjects in her works are almost always individuals from her inner circle, friends she has known for years, even if they are now distant. This raises a question: How does our yearning and physical separation affect our dearest memories? Take a moment to think about the person closest to your heart – it’s impossible to recall every detail of the face. Gutman employs a range of materials, such as old rags and fabric scraps left behind in the studio by previous artists. She approaches her artworks with a painterly mindset, frequently using her own clothing and bed linens to create her artworks. These elements form an essential part of the compositions, with their histories entwining with the images to create a multi-layered narrative.
Usually, Gutman’s process starts with a composition inspired by famous historical works, which she then reimagines and personalizes with the help of friends who act as models, reshaping the story of the original paintings. It’s a labor-intensive process that lacks formal refinement. The edges remain raw, the stitching irregular, and the images take on a weathered appearance. Her artworks strike a balance between punk and elegance. The stitching serves as both a delicate mending effort and a forceful action to bring together diverse elements, creating a harmonious whole.
Equally captivating are the large-scale works on paper by Carlos Casuso, created specifically for this exhibition. These four artworks were made just for this exhibition. They come together to form a central idea: a connected pattern that makes sense in each work and as a whole. In fact, each artwork holds a fundamental idea, acting like a social mirror where victims switch roles with their executioners, only to switch back again. This theme runs throughout all four pieces and their 420 potential arrangements. Elements like legs and feet come in from the left, while limbs emerge from the right, creating different compositions. The notions of intrusion and escape change and blend into a new dynamic concept. It’s like having a deck of cards you can play with freely, with no specific order required.
In one drawing, subjects with humanoid features, albeit monstrous and colorful, populate the scene, taking inspiration from the world of cartoons; in a second drawing, hyena-dogs chase each other playing and biting; in the third, an image of silence prevails: a reclining figure rests lying on the ground, in the company of a dog projected toward a world to the left; in the fourth, two figures run and, as in a relay race, their hands meet tangling; in the last work, here is a massing of bodies that brings us back to excited scenes. The unordered order of staging opens an open dialogue about the roles each of us takes based on our current status, where we are, and the company around us. Each reality, ours and others’, is as much a world unto itself as it is connected to others, a constantly evolving universe.
Fragmented Pursuits: Chasing Stories, is an exhibition curated by Edoardo Monti, and it presents unpublished works by Carlos Casuso (Perugia, 1995) and Julia Gutman (Sydney, 1993). Using colored pencils on paper and fabrics with stitching, Casuso and Gutman invite us into a fragmented world where we both pursue and are pursued.
Julia Gutman showcases textile works crafted from donated or found fabrics, enhanced with intricate hand embroidery and machine stitching. These tapestries are at times placed on wooden frames for structure and shape, while in other cases, they hang freely from extended metal chains. The language and history of painting have a big influence on her artworks.
Gutman created the entire body of work during the month of June 2023 at the Palazzo Monti artist residency in Brescia. The architectural elements decorating the building, including the eighteenth-century frescoes, strongly influenced the subjects, color palette, and compositions of the works produced during her stay. Gutman refrains from using preparatory sketches and does not base her figures on analog or digital images. Instead, she constructs tapestries using personal memories, fragmented stories, and faint images stored in a private, non-photographic memory. The subjects in her works are almost always individuals from her inner circle, friends she has known for years, even if they are now distant. This raises a question: How does our yearning and physical separation affect our dearest memories? Take a moment to think about the person closest to your heart – it’s impossible to recall every detail of the face. Gutman employs a range of materials, such as old rags and fabric scraps left behind in the studio by previous artists. She approaches her artworks with a painterly mindset, frequently using her own clothing and bed linens to create her artworks. These elements form an essential part of the compositions, with their histories entwining with the images to create a multi-layered narrative.
Usually, Gutman’s process starts with a composition inspired by famous historical works, which she then reimagines and personalizes with the help of friends who act as models, reshaping the story of the original paintings. It’s a labor-intensive process that lacks formal refinement. The edges remain raw, the stitching irregular, and the images take on a weathered appearance. Her artworks strike a balance between punk and elegance. The stitching serves as both a delicate mending effort and a forceful action to bring together diverse elements, creating a harmonious whole.
Equally captivating are the large-scale works on paper by Carlos Casuso, created specifically for this exhibition. These four artworks were made just for this exhibition. They come together to form a central idea: a connected pattern that makes sense in each work and as a whole. In fact, each artwork holds a fundamental idea, acting like a social mirror where victims switch roles with their executioners, only to switch back again. This theme runs throughout all four pieces and their 420 potential arrangements. Elements like legs and feet come in from the left, while limbs emerge from the right, creating different compositions. The notions of intrusion and escape change and blend into a new dynamic concept. It’s like having a deck of cards you can play with freely, with no specific order required.
In one drawing, subjects with humanoid features, albeit monstrous and colorful, populate the scene, taking inspiration from the world of cartoons; in a second drawing, hyena-dogs chase each other playing and biting; in the third, an image of silence prevails: a reclining figure rests lying on the ground, in the company of a dog projected toward a world to the left; in the fourth, two figures run and, as in a relay race, their hands meet tangling; in the last work, here is a massing of bodies that brings us back to excited scenes. The unordered order of staging opens an open dialogue about the roles each of us takes based on our current status, where we are, and the company around us. Each reality, ours and others’, is as much a world unto itself as it is connected to others, a constantly evolving universe.
- Erik Schmidt
