Tina Kim Gallery announces Event Horizon, featuring a new body of work by New York-based artist Davide Balliano (b. 1983, Turin, Italy). The exhibition will run from September 7 to October 7, 2023, marking his fourth solo show with the gallery.
The core of Event Horizon lies in Balliano’s captivation with the boundaries that define our perception and understanding of the world. Drawing inspiration from the enigmatic nature of black holes, where the laws of physics dissipate, Balliano delves into the mysteries that exist outside material presence.
Central to the exhibition are Balliano’s new series of marble sculptures. While this series maintains the architectural arch shape that served as the core shape in his earlier works in ceramics and stainless steel, they move further into his inquiry of the unknown, beyond established patterns. As marble contains the artificial precision of metal while still emanating an earthy, natural essence akin to pottery, the double-U- shaped sculptures articulate a void that suggests fulfillment even in its emptiness. The monolithic sculptures with a rough, raw surface similarly transcend their visible form, serving as an embodiment of what is unseen. By intentionally preserving the irregular surfaces in their original state from the time of mining, the artist establishes a dialogue with the material, reminiscent of the drips in his paintings. This deliberate choice connects his work to the ancient ruins of his native Italy, which alludes to the prototype at the time of its initial construction and the architectural principles that governed them.
In this show, Balliano also presents new larger paintings made specifically for this exhibition. Geometric monochrome remains foundational to Balliano, serving as a conduit for exploring the concept of mystery itself, rather than literal representation. Recently he has been focusing on breaking down geometrical patterns, evoking systematic errors. Taking on larger scale, the paintings invite the audience to a more immersive experience, where the fractured patterns work to undo the visual logic that determines them. Two black circular shapes in Untitled_265 bring to mind black holes themselves, indicative of the artist’s endeavor to point toward what lies beyond the painting’s frame.
Through his new works, Balliano skillfully showcases the poetic interplay of form and idea, revealing that simple geometric shapes possess not only aesthetic allure but also the capacity to tell the story of the origin and demise of architecture, nature, and the universe.
About the Artist
Davide Balliano’s (b. 1983) research operates on the thin line of demarcation between painting and sculpture. Utilizing an austere, minimal language of abstract geometries in strong dialogue with architecture, his work investigates existential themes such as the identity of man in the age of technology and his relationship with the sublime.
Through a practice that is self-described as monastic, austere and concrete, Balliano’s meticulous paintings appear, upon first glance, clean and precise. However, closer inspection reveals scrapes and scratches that uncover the organic wooden surface underneath the layers of paint, as a decaying façade of abandoned modernistic intentions.
In addition to painting, Davide Balliano is also known for his sculptural work, which translates the visual vocabulary found in his paintings into solid objects, often in ceramic, wood or stone. Originally trained in photography, Balliano shifted to painting and sculpture in 2006 while relocating to New York City, where he currently resides and works.
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