Emanuele Marcuccio
31 Aug - 8 Nov 2024
Damien & the Love Guru, Zurich
Entering Emanuele Marcuccio’s exhibition at the new premises of Damien & The Love Guru, you’re faced with a single work, a ship-like window of two colors, the frame, a maritime yellow surrounds a pitch-black window. The frame is metal, with a thick coating of paint, certain elements like the bolts within the frame start to form associations with Marcuccio’s earlier work, and what has become his signature style start to build in the mind. Growing up near the industrial heartlands of Veneto, Italy it makes sense that metal seems to be a favorite material of the artist, although he is not limited by it.
Continuing into the second room, two other windows sit side by side, framed in the same yellow, but this time with deep indigo windows. Although most of us have never sat in a submarine, recent headlines let them sit within our imagination. The artist prefers to keep interpretation and meaning of his work open, not feeding the viewer with too much. But when asking him about the windows, he mentions the color change could suggest certain depths and distance from light. Personally, when viewing these works, I initially felt something playful, hopeful, a suggested escape, perhaps an unconscious nod toward The Beatles hit.
Like most artists and their art, I first encountered Marcuccio’s work throughout a variety of exhibitions and collections in Zurich and Milan. Then having the chance to meet him at an opening at Kunsthalle Zurich in 2020. He provided a warm hello, followed by a brief and indifferent distant discussion, his mind was on a football game that was taking place later that evening. It wasn’t until a summer holiday in Puglia, climbing the stairs of Progetto, to view Dora Budor’s 2020 exhibition, where I met him again. During a few of those summer days I came to better understand Marcuccio, and his approach to work, most of which took place over discussions while visiting his families’ humble summer home on the Ionian coast. Forgotten memories of him racing around in a yellow Fiat Panda were found again in the work on display.
Getting to know an artist is never simple, some art enthusiasts prefer to have no detailed knowledge of the artist, and focus entirely on the artwork, for others the artist is even more important than the work. I know Marcuccio as a private person, and although the artists self is present in his work, I would say Marcuccio might prefer to sit with the former of those two groups. Hence, it was a surprise to discover in the exhibition, a 13-minute video by the fashion videographer, Massimoiliano Bomba, a close friend of the artist. The video slides through different scenes of the artists messy apartment, leaving intimate impressions of his perceived lifestyle. Taking in the show alone, and without distraction, I felt as if I was on some sort of submersible, voyaging in a silent voyeur sort of way.
Marcuccio has been represented by Damien & The Love Guru for four years. “When working with Emanuele there is always something mysterious, in this show there is no title, no text, it just all came together.” Priya Shetty, the Gallery’s Founder and Director says.
Emanuele Marcuccio is an artist I have had the pleasure of observing over a period of great self-discovery in contemporary art. His work continues to evolve across different forms and ideas, but maintains a consistency that is familiar. Emanuele is clearly one of many representations from today’s community of artists, curators, and collectors, who provides a glue of sorts, contributing to the greater idea of contemporary art through both his work and network.
Images by Gina Folly.
