OPENING: 

08 October 2014 – H. 21.00. 

Until 15 November.

WHERE: 

MMSU – Rijeka (CROATIA).

Curated by SLAVEN TOLJ e DANIELE CAPRA

What is the fascism? How does it permeate our society in the third millennium? It is frequently associated with a historical category, marked by the events of the last century and characterized by ideologies and totalitarianisms. However, fascism has never abandoned us: there are contemporary examples, not very numerous, of extremist political groups that refer to historical fascism, yet there are more subliminal and subtle tendencies. We can see examples in the economic field, where capitalism has become a state religion based on dominance, but also in interpersonal relationships, as well as in the desires of the masses, bent on the models proposed by the media and the entertainment society. The form of fascism has definitively changed from a political category to an anthropological tendency.

The solo show Something Else collects the political works of Giovanni Morbin. The exhibition was conceived for the spaces of the MMSU Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka (HR), in which sculptures, collages, installations, photographs, as well as the video documentation of a performance carried out in the city center a few days before the ‘opening.

The works and the performance of the central work of the exhibition (The greeting corner) are based on the air volumes of the greeting that the fascists used to exchange, starting from the 1920s, when they met. The salute is a kind of unconscious modernist sculpture and a mise en scène for the public, which can be interpreted as a formalization of a gesture that can be seen not only in proximity (such as shaking hands), given its open volume it can resemble a sculpture of infinite dimensions. This action leads us to two conflicting reflections, since we are at the same time attracted to its formal part, but disgusted by its political significance. Giovanni Morbin lets the spectator choose, without any attempt at moral persuasion: the observer is forced to take part and express a personal opinion, as in the case of Forza Nuova (a large metal sculpture with the shape of a bullet coming out of the wall ), even though the very action of looking can be dangerous or hurt us.

The title of the show comes from the Sex Pistols single Somethin ’Else, whose cover portrays Sid Vicious in a red T-shirt with Nazi symbols.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog with the works of the artist and essays by the curators Slaven Tolj and Daniele Capra, by Eva Fabbris, Alessandro Castiglioni, Lidia Sanvito, as well as conversations with Cesare Pietroiusti and Giovanni Morbin.

BIO

Giovanni Morbin (Vicenza, 1956) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice after following the courses of Emilio Vedova. From the beginning his research has been based on the study of behavior and performance, frequently aimed at creating objects with functional activity. He exhibited or performed performances at the Marino Marini Museum, Florence (2014), Centrale Fies – Environments for the production of Performing Arts, Trento (2013), Villa Croce Museum of Contemporary Art, Genoa (2013), MaGa Museum, Gallarate ( 2011), Artericambi, Verona (2010), Gallerija Gregor Podnar, Ljubljana (2010), Istituto Svizzero, Rome (2010), Mart, Rovereto (2010), ViaFarini, Milan (2009).

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