Dani Marti – Dark Bones
7 October – 11 November 2006
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in Italian
Spanish artist Dani Marti, now based in Glasgow, exhibited his work for the first time in Italy at Citric Gallery. The new works are inspired by the life story of Beatrice Cenci, a late Renaissance figure whose drama has captured the attention and fantasy of authors such as Stendhal, Shelley and Melville. Marti's work intrigues and involves with his unusual style made of intertwined ropes, fibres and other materials which are the key elements of his tri-dimensional works.
The "Woven Constructions" are complex and dynamic creations made of different materials of every day or industrial use, such as nylon, polyester, rubber and coloured ropes mounted on a wooden structure. Made entirely by hand, these structures have a minimal and a very formal presence.
Behind each work there is the essence of a person and a story. Dani Marti creates a portrait of people who inspire him (people he knows, historic or popular characters, cartoons or made up), by using different materials, definitely not traditional materials. Each work is given a name even before being created. This allows the artist to establish a very intimate relation with his work, the subject and the construction process. Marti considers this as a bonding ritual that allows him to possess the person he is representing.
His work is very much stimulated by the challenge of portraiture. His main interest in the essence of each subject, in its most hidden and intimate aspects - the challenge of capturing it and reproducing it. This is mostly perceived by the type of weave he chooses to use, the textures, colours and materials associated to the character. He also captures this in his videos based on the documentary style and language, and used to generate a different point of view and key to interpretation for the viewer. His work recalls the intimacy of clothing on a body, and they represent not only the figure but above all the personality, sexuality, intimacy of a person.
For Marti, the creation/construction of these works represents the struggle among bodies – his own and that of the ropes – he stretches the ropes, he fixes them with strength, but at the same time he caresses them, he gives them life, just like they were sensual bodies. The forms pulse with energy through the tense ropes, the colours contrast each other in a chromatic fight, strength flows among the weaving, engulfing the structure and flowing out of its confines. These structures, which are not painting nor sculptures, have no dimension that can be contained, they invade space and integrate and interact with the other bodies that surround them.
Exhibition catalogue “Closer” by Domenico Quaranta