the street is our gallery

April 16, 2016 to May 28, 2016

Alice Pasquini’s solo exhibition I’mperfectTenseat 44309 STREET//ART GALLERY is focused on the concept of imperfection and perfection. Known for her inventive usage of materials, here,
too, the theme of the show is not only communicated through imagery but also the media used:
Empty bottles and old cabinet doors refer to their past and through their imperfections become
even more alluring. Alice objects the contemporary notion of the harsh and clinical industrial
aesthetic and instead offers an emotional and sensual point of view on flaws, defects and
irregularities. Alice’s works, both indoor and outdoor, has been exhibited all over the world and
after a short hiatus of 3 years, we are very happy to welcome her back to Dortmund.
Opening night is on the 16thof April from 7pm, the exhibition will run until the 28thof May 2016.

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I’mperfectTense

Imperfection is defined with respect to a genre, a canon, or a law. Too much or too little with respect
to the norm renders something imperfect. What but is the criteria for imperfection in art?
Allure certainly has nothing to do either with perfection or beauty. The most “perfect” subject is often
the least inspiring.

As Umberto Eco reminds us, “The Venus de Milo, with her missing arms, is imperfect. As seductive
figures we celebrate beings with defects: crossed-eyes, noses like those of Barbra Streisand, the
lameness celebrated by Montaigne. Tanizachigives praise to the bowed legs of Japanese women.
Because in watching them, the continual attempt to imagine what has been lost is alluring.”
According to wabi-sabi, anancient Japanese aesthetic philosophy centered on the principals of
transience and imperfection, beauty is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. Asymmetry,simplicity,
intimacy, and an appreciation for the integrity of natural objects join the philosophy to this body of work.

As someone who has chosen the street, the color impressed on the wall, as well as the rapid and
spontaneous contact with viewers necessitates an influence by a place and its history. In my own
need to go beyond the limits of the canvas and studio in order to create art not only for spectators,
but also for passersby, I often select decaying walls. Walls that are ravaged by layers of tags or
invaded by cracks. The city’s scars are my best canvases. Sources of inspiration are present
everywhere and can indeed come from the most unexpected places.
I am fascinated by abandoned spaces, whether modern or ancient -a taste that upends the concept
of perfection and completeness.

I paint on objects where time has left its mark, evoking a past in which its imperfections reflect our
own flaws, our own scars, our own uniqueness.
It’s odd that in English the word imperfect contains “I’m perfect.”In some languages the imperfect
verb form indicates a past action “imperfectly” brought to completion. Coming from the Latin
imperfectus, it indicates an ongoing, uncompleted action. Here ruins, whether archeological or mental, are understood as places of the past -places of memory.

Rubble, yet also points of departure for the construction of our time. Shine a light on our times, and the relationship between wounds past and present, giving hope in a contemporary world destined for decline and playing on the fears that fill our daily lives. What I seek is not to comply with a taste canon, but an internal principle. To rebuild a naturalness of materials, of senses, of emotions, against the invasive industrial and technological alienation, against banal, manipulative advertising.
Written by Alice Pasquini.

On display at: 44309streetartgallery.net
[email protected]

Event's Gallery:

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