Francesco Jodice

Francesco Jodice

23rd March – 23rd May, 2013

curated by Gigliola Foschi

Intent on proposing shows in which art, ethics and civil responsibility converge, Podbielski Contemporary, after having recently presented the Israeli artist Ohad Matalon and the Iranian artist Shadi Ghadirian, will now host a show of Francesco Jodice (Naples, 1967), curated by Gigliola Foschi. Jodice’s research concentrates on geopolitical topics and investigates the changes in contemporary landscape by using photography, film, text and performances. The exhibited photographic works are part of the series “What We Want”, a project in progress started in 1995 that combines works that have been produced all over the world. It is a structured “geographical atlas” on the modifications that landscape has undergone due to human desires and needs. Sometimes born out of peoples´ fear of others and out of the anxiety to defend their own social status, these desires can provoke an inexhaustible need for security where living choices are concerned. In other cases however, the dream of dominating nature can have disastrous outcomes (as happened at the Aral Lake, polluted and dried out because of two rivers that have been redirected in order to provide water supply for cotton mills in Uzbekistan). Whereas the intent of imprinting the traces of one´s existence can completely turn the social balances of a territory upside down (as is the case with the new settlements built by Israeli settlers in the West Bank). Each image of this research highlights a different geopolitical problem, as if it were a piece of an enigmatic, incomplete mosaic in continuous expansion. Knowingly minimalistic and interrogative, ambiguously fascinating and of lightly coloured tones, Jodice’s photographs invite each visitor to ask: “What am I seeing?” The author says: “For me it is very important to get the spectator to approach a work that is at first sight quiet, with the lightness, the airiness and a colour scale that the colour psychology would define as cheerful, corresponding to questions and topics that are not only complex and disturbing”. These calm and at once perturbing images are accompanied by synthetic and dense geopolitical texts that will be written onto the gallery walls by a class of young students from a school in the neighbourhood. The intention is thus to involve them in these issues. And indeed, Francesco Jodice wants to create artworks that are an open relational apparatus, capable of activating and soliciting new reflections. By doing so, he reveals his affinity with authors like Alfredo Jaar, Antoni Muntadas and Santiago Sierra. Intent on making the socio-political issues in his work known beyond the traditional circuits of galleries and museums, the artist then created ‘Citytellers’: three films on new forms of urbanization. Podbielski Contemporary gallery presents part of the trilogy, ‘Dubai Citytellers’ (2010-2011), that narrates the conditions of neo-slavery of a great number of immigrants involved in the construction of futuristic and luxurious buildings in the “city-state” of Dubai. In May 23 at 7 pm, the Italian Cultural Institute in Berlin will show the films ‘São Paulo_Citytellers’ and ‘Aral_Citytellers’. Jodice, who since the beginnings of his career in the nineties, has always created artworks capable of having an impact as critical investigations of contemporary reality, figured among the founders of the collectives Multiplicity and Zupruder. He participated in the Podbielski Contemporary I Koppenplatz 5 I D-10115 Berlin I info@podbielskicontemporary.com I +49 (0)30-24088 238 I www.podbielskicontemporary.com Kassel Documenta 11 (2002), the Venice Bienniale (2003), the São Paulo Biennial (2006) and the ICP Triennal of Photography and Video in New York (2006). His work has been shown at Tate Modern in London, the museum Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Castello di Rivoli, at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, the MAMbo in Bologna and the Prado museum in Madrid. The renowned Palazzo Reale in Milan will show a solo show of the artist from June to October 2013. Some of his works are currently on display in the exhibition “Embassy goes Contemporary”, young art from the collection of Museion (Bozen) at the Italian Embassy in Berlin (Italian Embassy in Germany, Tiergartenstr. 22, 10785 Berlin, until 28th April, 2013; opening hours: guided tours on Monday, registration under: berlino.exhibitions@esteri.it) On the occasion of the exhibition a catalogue with a text by Gigliola Foschi will be presented. Furthermore the new publication by Francesco Jodice “I have seen this place before“, curated by Angela Madesani (Dalai Editore, Milano, 2011, Italian) will be available. Under the patronage of: Italienisches Kulturinstitut Berlin