Sergio Breviario
T.W.O. Numbers are not important
October 29, 2021 - December 16, 2021
Works
Artworks
3D Tour
Press Release
MLF | Marie-Laure Fleisch is pleased to present T.W.O. – Numbers Are Not Important, Sergio Breviario’s first solo exhibition in Belgium. The artist regularly uses video and performance, but it is in drawing that he finds the greatest freedom, placing it at the center of his practice. Hidden behind the classical outlook of his works is an extremely meticulous process, as well as an intellectual conception far removed from what one would be mistaken to see as a simple homage to art history. Breviario’s singular scenography tends to disturb our perception of space and, in doing so, our way of apprehending the works. His suspended pedestals make it impossible to approach these creations – whose medium and theme in general hardly surprise a seasoned eye – in any conventional manner. This exhibition is also an opportunity to present a new body of work, the Tenda series. Its large drapes, camouflaging spaces where only the viewer’s imagination can penetrate, overhang classical-looking drawings.
To appreciate Breviario’s approach, we must first return to an issue well known to art historians, namely to determine what confers the status of “work of art” to an object. This obsession leads him to rethink the relationship between the notion of culto (devotion, veneration), which tends to build a bridge between man and the divine, and that of cultura (culture), which emphasizes the human origin of knowledge. Although the artist tries to refrain from any religious reference, he nevertheless wishes to infuse his works with an element of mystery. By breaking down the title (T.W.O.) with dots, the artist distances himself from the initial meaning of the word, as if to keep any desire for conformity at bay. In this context, the exhibition’s subtitle, Numbers Are Not Important, finds its meaning: Breviario questions our cultural value system, preferring to allow for an element of uncertainty in the appreciation of our surroundings. Much in the same way, the drawings that seem to conquer the exhibition space are only a further refusal of the classical conventions of staged art.
The only hint of a measurable world that Breviario concedes is in the title: Two, a reference to the concept of the double that defines the exhibition. The drawings are presented in pairs and echo the representation of pairs of eyes present in most works. The androgynous faces, a further indication of the principle of duality, are reminiscent of Renaissance canons of beauty although in looking at them, one is quickly disturbed by their association with anachronistic elements. These figures are the result of collages of different faces, allowing the artist to balance forms, but without any academicism or ever being able to predict the final results. This incongruous iconography is all the more disturbing when one perceives only the eyes central to this imagery, inspired by personal photographs but also anatomy and art history books. The ambition remains the same: each creation must be charged with a fundamental “energy” that goes beyond its medium and time.
The neutrality of Breviario’s translucent materials gives his drawings a timeless character: the faces seem to emerge from an unplaceable in-between. By using materials at the cutting edge of technology like polyester sheets (known for their resistance) and ancient techniques like silverpoint, the artist aims at an unchanging creation. The shimmering surfaces in which the viewer’s gaze merges with that of the work of art aim to impact our consciousness, reminding us in passing that art is first and foremost a question of living experience. Through the curtains in the Tenda series, the artist also departs from the conventional appreciation of drawings and opens up infinite possibilities of interpretation for the spectator. The reproductions in dialogue with these fabrics all have discrete elements that differ from the original work when they do not come straight out of the artist’s imagination. By creating these misunderstandings through minute details, Breviario intends to shake up our relationship to art. With its obstacle-strewn path, the exhibition presents works that do not surrender to any concrete meaning but appeal to an intuitive truth that opens up many roads.
Artist Biography
Born in Bergamo, 1974.
Lives and works in Milan
Solo exhibitions
2021
Avrei Brio, Casa degli Artisti, Milan, Italy
2020
Tic!Tic!Toc!, Spazio C.o.s.m.o. Milan, Italy
2019
Ventiduemilanovecentodiciannove, Surplace art space, Varese, Italy
Nimbo o aureola quadrata e il disegno di Watteaux, curated by Gianluca Brogna, Ex Elettrofonica, Rome, Italy
2016
Fotoromanzo, curated by Ilaria Mariotti, Palazzo delle Esposizioni Villa Pacchiani di Santa Croce sull’Arno, Italy
2015
The Belle of the Ball, MAC Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Lissone, Italy
2014
I love you on the stage, O’ space, Milan, Italy
The Time Machine Oltrepò, Galleria del Premio Suzzara, Mantova, Italy
Blemmi, Posteria Cafè, Milan, Italy
2013
La Logica del Tornasole, CARS, Final Palazzotto di Orta san Giulio, Omegna, Italy
21 Quadrati, Galleria Marie-Laure Fleisch, Rome, Italy
23, Gaff farnespazio, Milan, Italy
2012
Prototipo di macchina per la conquista del mondo, curated by Ludovico Pratesi, Centro arti visive Pescheria, Pesaro, Italy
2011
Drawings by 2 (con Marco Bongiorni), curated by di Ludovico Pratesi, Galleria Marie-Laure Fleisch, Rome, Italy
2010
L’erba del re non fa crescere i fiori, Fabio Tiboni arte contemporanea, Bologna, Italy
2009
Fanzine, Primo tempo. C/O L'ospite e l'intruso, Varese
Sergio: Ciao come va? Ale: Bene. Sergio: Allora io porto le bolle. Ale:Io la mostra. Sergio: No, lascia a casa tua zia (with Alessandro Roma), Mars - Milan Artist Run Space, Milan, Italy
2008
E’ ospite solo verso sera (con D. Rivalta), curated by Davide Ferri, Fabio Tiboni arte contemporanea, Bologna, Italy
2007
P.E.P.E., Galleria Piac, Ragusa, Italy
2006
diciannove novantasei: mi edifico e ti guardo, curated by Milovan Farronato, Viafarini, Milan, Italy
Group Exhibitions
2020
Bodies on stage, performances from home in the time of quarantine, curated by Andrea Contin, in partnership with Teatro LinguaggiCreativi, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, Croatia
Italian Imaginary, MLF | Marie-Laure Fleisch, Brussels, Belgium
2019
Corpi sul Palco, curated by Andrea Contin, Teatro LinguaggiCreativi, Milan, Italy
2018
Premio Lissone, curated by Alberto Zanchetta, Museo d’arte Contemporanea, Lissone, Italy
Walkabout 01 / Foreignness. Enchantment, curated by Ermanno Cristini, Al Fadhil, Franco Marinotti, Luca Scarabelli, Fabbrica del cioccolato, Foundation for arts, Blenio, Switzerland
Attimi d’arresto. polvere, sfocature e rotolacampi, curated by Ermanno Cristini and Francesca Petrolo, Casa Petrolo, Ticinallo, Italy
Noplace 4, Ex Fabbrica Vaccari, Sarzana, Italy
2017
Moroso concept for contemporary art, curated by Andrea Bruciati, Museo etnografico del Friuli, Udine, Italy
Concetto spaziale, Artdate: sacro/sagra, curated by The Blank, Bergamo, Italy
2016
Profili del mondo, Biennal, curated by Alessandra Bigi Iotti, Marinella Paderni, Massimo Pulini, Giulio Zavatta, Museo della Città, Rimini, Italy
Vitello tonnato, Plutschow Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
Homeworks: n. 5, curated by Samuele Menin, Galleria Arrivada, Milan, Italy
NoPlace.Space, Castello di Fombio, Lodi, Italy
2015
Non esistono oggetti brutti, curated by Thanos Zakopoulos and Alberto Zanchetta, Galleria Bianconi, Milan, Italy
Progetto Città ideale, curated by Mirko Canesi, Fabbrica del vapore, Milan, Italy
Homeworks, curated by Samuele Menin, Galleria Arrivada, Milan, Italy
Èdra. Tutta l'Italia è silenziosa, Accademia Tedesca Roma Villa massimo, Rome, Italy
2014
Berti Breviario Casini Galantini, Galleria MK Search Art, San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy
Panta Rei. Tutto si trasforma, Museo Civico del Marmo di Carrara, Carrara, Italy
I baffi del bambino, curated by Luca Bertolo, Lucie Fontaine, Milan, Italy
Made in Filandia, Filanda di Pergine Valdarno, Arezzo, Italy
Quinta Essentia, The Workbench, Milan, Italy
Artist Run Space International Show, curated by Chung Sae Yong, Space BAR, Gallery TOMA, Art Space Bangchun, Project 9-21, TAEGU, South Korea
Drawing for Lightnings, Kunstraum t27, Berlin, Germany
Belvedere, paesaggi e visioni della collezione del Maga, Galleria d’arte moderna e contemporanea, Gallarate, Italy
Se di-segno, curated by Sergia Avveduti, Padiglione Esprit Nouveau, Bologna, Italy
2013
La logica del tornasole, curated by Lorenza Boisi, Cars, Omegna, Italy
Arimortis, curated by Roberto Cuoghi and Milovan Ferronato, Museo del 900, Milano, Italy
Moroso Award for contemporary art, curated by Andrea Bruciati, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice, Italy
2012
Saremo come dei principi, sottoterra, curated by Jean-Marie Reynier e Ermanno Cristini Artpolis, Lugano, Switzerland
L’altro lato della luna, curated by Andrea Bruciati, Jarach Gallery, Venice, Italy
C’est la nuit qu’il est beau de croire à la lumière, curated by Jean-Marie Reynier and Ermanno Cristini, Fort militaire de Chillon, Montreux, Switzerland
Personal effects on sale, curated by Francesco Calzolari, David Casini, Viola Emaldi, Irene Guzman, Valentina Rossi, Marco Scotti, Sissi, Padiglione l’Esprit Nouveau, Bologna, Italy
Punti di Vista, curated by Ludovico Pratesi, Palazzo Arnone, Cosenza, Italy
Epipedon, curated by Ludovico Pratesi, CO2, Rome, Italy
...e vi solleverà il mondo, curated by Berti, Breviario, Menin, Roma, O’, Milan, Italy
2011
Meriggio a Carignano, curated by Ludovico Pratesi, Villa al Console, Carignano, Italy
Dialogos, Assab-one, Milan, Italy
Don't Come If You Care, curated by Sils, Het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam, Holland
3mm al giorno, Cripta 747, Turin, Italy
Scultura lingua, curated by Barbara Meneghel, Marselleria, Milan, Italy
Difetto come indizio del desiderio, curated by Andrea Bruciati, NEON Campobase, Bologna, Italy
A ruota libera, curated by Milovan Farronato and Chiara Agnello, MAXXI Museo delle Arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy
2010
Soap Float, curated by Luca Trevisani, Marselleria permanent exhibition, Milan, Italy
MR Potato's Head. La scultura è cangiante per natura, curated by Luca Trevisani, Cars Artspace, Omegna, Italy
Altre pagine d’artista. 1960 – 2010, curated by Alessandro Castiglioni, Centro artistico Alik Cavaliere, Milan, Italy
Transition. A private matter, curated by Alessandro Castiglioni e Katia Baraldi, Roaming, Prague, Czech Republic
Festa Mobile, curated by Davide Ferri and Antonio Grulli, Miki e Max, Bologna, Italy
Effetto Stalker #3, curated by Helga Marsala, Galleria Dell’arco, Palermo, Italy
2009
Non voltarti adesso/ Don’t look now!, curated by Milovan Farronato, Cà Pesaro, Venice, Italy
Il Resto del Tempo, curated by Alessandro Castiglioni, Castello Visconteo di Jerago, Jerago con Orago, Italy
New Italian Epic, curated by Andrea Bruciati, Brown Project Space, Milan, Italy
L’immagine sottile 03, GC.AC Galleria Comunale d’Arte Contemporanea, Monfalcone, Italy
2008
Una ruota che sale e scende dallo sgabello, curated by Luca Scarabelli, Museo Flaminio Bertoni, Varese, Italy
Repetita iuvant, curated by Alessandro Castiglioni, Roaming Assab one, Milan, Italy
2006
La torta della sposa, Galleria Manuela Klerkx, Milan, Italy
Video.it 7, Palazzo dei Giureconsulti, Milan, Italy
Sperequazione: il riflesso perplesso, curated by Michela Arfiero, neon>fdb, Milan, Italy
2005
THIN LINE: THE EXHIBITION, THE MOVIE!!, VUB, Bruxelles, Belgium
No location relocation, curated by Michela Arfiero, Galleria Comunale di arte contemporanea, Castel San Pietro Terme, Italy
Video.it / contrappunti, curated by Mrio Gorni and Francesco Poli, Palazzo Graneri della roccia, Turin, Italy
Thin line 4, curated by Milovan Farronato, Viafarini, Milan, Italy
2004
Showcase , curated by Michela Arfiero, Artopia, Milan, Italy
Chance, T293 arte contemporanea, Naples, Italy
2003
Tracce di un seminario, curated by di Giacinto Di Pietrantonio and Angela Vettese, Viafarini, Milan, Italy
2002
In extremis, curated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio e Angela Vettese, Fondazione Ratti, Como, Italy
Grants & Awards
2013
Premio Suzzara, La terra si muove con il senso, Suzzara, Italy
Premio Moroso, Moroso Concept for Contemporary Art, Udine (Menzione speciale), Italy
2012
Premio Lombardia Arte, Regione Lombardia, MIART, Milan, Italy
Anche oggi sono felice, Collezione Amaci (c/o Museo Maga), Gallarate, Italy
2009
É una questione di santità, Mart, Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Rovereto, Italy
La vergine affetta da poliochidismo predilige la castità. Seconda versione, GC.AC Galleria Comunale di Monfalcone, Italy
Residencies
2020
Casa degli Artisti, Milan, Italy
2014
Made in Filandia, Pergine Valdarno, Italy
Database, Carrara, Italy
2013
Cusio Artist Residency Space, Cars, Omagna, Italy
2002
Corso superiore di arti visive, Fondazione Ratti, Como, Italy