Italian artist Stefano Arienti will present a new series of sculptures and drawings for his second exhibition at Lehmann Maupin Gallery. The work in this exhibition is characteristic of Arte Provera and Arienti's continued interest in the subtle manipulation of found materials with a focus on décor and decoration. The exhibition will feature slabs of marble, large dyed carpets, cords made of paper, drawings and mass-produced posters sewn with zippers.
Often present in Arienti's art are collateral or complimentary works. This is apparent in Macramè su Tavolo di Onice Scuro and Tovaglia per Marmo. Round slabs of marble originally used as tabletops have been painstakingly painted with traced motifs from the tablecloths. The original crocheted cloths with remnants of paint are then hung on the gallery walls. This collection and exhibition of elements is an example of his ideas about craft. Inspiration may be derived from source materials or those materials may be altered themselves to create a new work.
Since childhood Arienti has collected large quantities of the same objects, many of which have formed the core of the artist's works. In Libri Tranciati, over 100 books have been continuously sliced so that only each book's spine and title remain. Another example of collections in his work is the group of large carpets from different parts of the world that are featured in this show. Like Ensi Cinese Nero, each carpet has been dyed either red or black; this manipulation allows for the viewer to see the subtle variations between the carpets' textures and designs while color and tonal differences are subverted. With many of the distinguishing marks connecting each carpet to a culture or region of the world removed, only a sense of each original remains.
Stefano Arienti lives and works in Milan. His work has been shown extensively in Italy and internationally in both group and solo exhibitions, and he has recently been selected as an International Artist-in-Residence at the prestigious ArtPace in San Antonio, Texas. Arienti was also the subject of a major retrospective at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin and the Maxxi Museum in Rome. His work was shown in the Milano Europa 2000 Triennial, the 3rd International Istanbul Biennial, curated by Vasif Kortun and at the Hara Museum in Japan. Major public and private collections worldwide contain his work, including the FRAC in France.