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[Image: Paola PIVI “Too late”, 2017 Urethane foam, plastic, feathers 234 x 173 x 87 cm / 92 1/8 x 68 1/8 x 34 1/4 in © Paola Pivi / ADAGP, Paris & SACK, Seoul 2017. Courtesy Perrotin]

Paola Pivi “They All Look The Same”

Gallery Perrotin Tokyo

Finished

Artists

Paola Pivi

Solo exhibition by Paola Pivi organized to coincide with her participation in the Yokohama Triennale. The series of artworks Paola Pivi presents in Tokyo exemplifies her phantasmagorical and unbridled world, “as beautiful as the chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on an operating table,” as Lautréamont would say. Here, polar bears and feathered wheels live in lighthearted harmony, as if floating in a space that looks out over the city and attracts the glances of passers-by. The work of Pivi is undisputedly compelling, leaving no viewers feeling indifferent. Her series of multicolored bears captivated viewers at the “Ok, you are better than me, so what?” exhibition for the opening of Perrotin, New York. Pivi’s bears will be put on a show once again here, striking poses and playing with the space that opens onto the exterior of the gallery. One extra large polar bear — the biggest ever made by Pivi — is caught mid-air as if it has just boldly leaped into the void, while another is pointing down in a fearless dive. The bears are covered with
feathers in colors that range from white to electric blue. Massimiliano Gioni describes the spectacular nature of Pivi’s work in the following terms: “Paola Pivi’s work moves to the fevered beat of a Carnival party. And in fact, she has often thought of her work as a kind of festivity.” The impression of movement is accentuated by a series of wall-mounted wheels in motion, captivating metal creations adorned with natural feathers.
The artworks in the new series “They all look the same” have been specially produced for the exhibition with feathers sourced in Japan. Evoking in turn the wheel of a peacock’s tail, Native American dream catchers, Marcel Duchamp’s bicycle wheel, or a hypnotic pendulum, Pivi’s wheels offer a minimalist counterpoint to the feathered bears on display.
The very placement of Pivi’s installations is central to her creative process, boldly moving beyond the conventional codes of practice for staging exhibitions.
Paola Pivi invites us to a joyful show that seems to pay no heed to any principles of reality or laws of gravity, true to her epicurean vision of creation. Proposing “an implied collective,” Pivi’s works appeal to our personal experience, our perceptions, our imagination, as opposed to a rational logic. Absurd but above all free, nature revisited by the artist affords a radical, parodying vision of our contemporary artifacts — objects, animals or similar creatures — within a strange and magical, topsy-turvy world.

Schedule

Aug 26 (Sat) 2017-Nov 11 (Sat) 2017