Pica puts her stamp on exhibit
An artist’s first major solo exhibition installations and sculptural works has opened at a gallery.
Amalia Pica’s Private & Confidential display is at The New Art Gallery, in Walsall, until February 2 – it opened earlier this month.
The British-Argentinian artist’s is known for her installations and sculptural works which explore forms of communication and realms of civic participation.
For this exhibition, which explores the material culture of bureaucracy, she repurposes materials and motifs – such as shredded paper, rubber stamps, office furniture and stationery – to produce works that playfully parody and subvert bureaucratic systems.
The exhibition comprises new works, as well as the installation Joy in Paperwork: The Archive, from 2016, presented originally at the 11th Gwangju Bienniale. The Walsall exhibit will be the first time it has been seen in its entirety in the UK.
The installation consists of more than 1,000 images created using bureaucratic stamps from various locations across the world. Each of the A4 prints are hung in plastic sleeves and are presented in a grid system across the whole of a 26-metre long gallery.
Pica has also created a room installation inspired by the security patterns found on the inside of envelopes. These patterns prevent the reading of internal content but the installation invites the viewer inside.
Contemporary dance students from Walsall College will be working with the artist throughout the duration of the exhibition to develop a performance, which will be filmed and presented live in the galleries on November 7.
There will also be an In Conversation event on Saturday, February 1, at 2pm, with Pica and curator Zoe Lippett for a talk about the exhibition, which is supported by the Henry Moore Foundation. To book a free place, call the gallery on 01922 654400.
