The idea of Carte Blanche is to provide a platform for contemporary art now. Local and International creatives and artists will be given the opportunity to show their works in a virtual gallery online and a gallery space at the Aurora premises.
october 2023
Simon Iurino
Simon Iurino born 1986 in Bolzano, Italy, is a contemporary artist living and working in Vienna, Austria. He studied in the Master Class in Object Sculpture, at the Academy of Fine Arts, Urbino, Italy. Afterwards he completed a one year study at the prestigious Central Saint Martins Academy in London, UK.The artist finished his studies with e Master Class in Textual Sculpture with the well-known Professor Heimo Zobernig with whom Iurino started working for several years afterwards.The work of Simon Iurino spans an array of media, from architectural intervention and installation, to sculpture and painting. His practice across all these forms is connected by an interrogation of the formal language of modernism an the artist want to use the the image carrier - canvas, paper itself becomes the content of the artwork.
With his latest series CYANOTYPES Iurino plays with the ancient technique of natural of blueprinting used for architectural drawings. He has a practice of putting layers together. The history of a place may well appear in the form or material of its work. The title can reflect the concept. The place can influence the aesthetics as much as material or spatial necessities. Iurino´s works habe been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Italy and abroad. He won prizes, got residencies, and is represented by 2 galleries as well included in Institutional as well as important private collections.
„Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.“
About
Simon Iurino
CYANOTYPES
Simon Iurino born in 1986 in Bolzano, Italy shows for the 9th edition of Carte Blanche called CYANOTYPES recently finished, newer shown before works and site specific installations.
From Cyanotypes on paper, to big scale artworks on textiles to smaller ones with letter cubes and filament we will look at a harmonious overview of the artists oeuvre.
Iurino often expresses himself through sculpture, painting and installation and is particularly interested in the intersections where different categories such as sculpture and architecture meet and overlap.
The assembly of prefabricated metal structures allows the artist to recontextualise standard materials and modules, altering their aesthetics and create new spatial configurations.
An important element of Simon Iurino's sculptures, both large and small is the usage of industrial materials such as copper tubes or extruded ceramic pipes, the sculptures are bent, twisted and snaked upwards through ceramic silkscreens, enamels and oxides,
With his expansive installation, Simon Iurino sets up a walk-on stage that explores and artistically questions the relationship between sculpture, architecture and exhibition display. Industrially produced materials and modules such as metal frames, which the artist often finds in DIY stores and uses in industrially prescribed standard dimensions, are examined with regard to their aesthetic development possibilities and re-contextualised in the artistic process. In this way, Iurino examines the relationship between everyday objects and works of art in the tradition of Minimal Art and, not least, casts a critical eye on art as an operating system.
Using the now anachronistic technique of cyanotype, a photographic process that was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2018, Iurino fixes materials such as fabrics or nets. Cyanotype, also known as blue print or iron blue print, is an old photographic process with typical cyan blue hues. The English expression "blue print", a first design in architecture comes from this technique used for this purpose to reproduce plans since 1870.
Artistically, this technique was always somewhat on the sidelines. For a long time it was not counted among the noble photographic printing processes, which is emblematic of Simon Iurino's artistic practice. The process has a relatively long development time, but does not require a darkroom, as the ink, which is soaked in a chemical solution, is not used. The image carrier, soaked in a chemical solution, is directly exposed to the sun; the image carrier becomes the content of the image.
These artworks on display at the main common area at the Hotel Aurora premises stands out through their formal rigor and turns the order of everyday things upside down, so that a new, defunctionalised form becomes visible.
Simon Iurino's artistic practice oscillates between walk-in sculpture and the inherent display. The history of a site can affect the form or material of the object. Likewise, the title may describe the concept or external circumstances may affect aesthetic choices. Materiality also plays an important role for the artist
Iurino, who studied textual sculpture with Heimo Zobernig at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, explores space for its potential and invites new encounters with our immediate surroundings.
Iurinos objects are strongly influenced by the process of their creation: the testing of material combinations and production methods. Material and scale allow these works to connect to the space that surrounds us. In their simplicity, immediacy and usability, the works bring out the complexity of structures and forms that are familiar to us.
The work shown at the Aurora
All prices are without VAT. They are sold directly by the artist to the customer with a certificate of authenticity and invoice.
Installation “untitled”
alu-profile, canotype on cotton, wood, dispersion, sheetrock
various dimension
2023
12.000 €
Untitled “folded surface”
cyanotype on cotton
130x11 cm
2023
3600 €
Untitled “folded surface”
cyanotype on cotton
180x120 cm
2023
4200 €
Untitled “folded gesture”
cyanotype on paper
70x50 cm
2023
2800 €
Untitled “ABC”
mixed media on canvas
30x24 cm
2023
980 €
Event Photos
THE IDEA
The aim is to curate the Hotel’s art specifically - we want there to be good stories and a lasting wellbeing for the guests as well as try to make them have a unique and distinctive experience. The interplay of art design and the Hotel Aurora’s architecture is what characterizes this special place in South Tyrol. The historic hotel in Merano is marked by art treasures and designer pieces that one can find throughout the hotel as well as in every room and this is what makes the Aurora so outstanding. Carte Blanche will host about 6 art exhibitions per year and is keen on giving artists the opportunity to also create site specific works for the hotel that will be shown permanently. The shown art works as well as art editions of works on display will be available at the Hotels Aurora’s own art corner.
THE CURATOR
The upcoming exhibitions will be curated by the freelance curator Eva von Ingram Harpf. Curator Eva von Ingram Harpf, 1987, after graduating from Bocconi University in Milan with a thesis in Art Banking worked at Johann König Gallery in Berlin, as well as Ghetta Gallery, Ortisei and holds a Master´s degree in Contemporary Art from Sothebys London. Since 2012 she works as an independent curator and art adviser and is based in Bolzano, Südtirol, Italy. She is a member of the board of ar/ge Kunst Bozen and founder of y-contemporary platform.