The use of children's tales is not new in Mondongo's work: with Little Red Riding Hood, they had already stretched the limits of the popular, using the story as a catalyst for exposing the weaknesses and excesses of humanity. Here, they exhibit Pinocchio's adult life preserving some traits of the unanimated.
Behind a windowpane, the character carries out a series of actions recreating daily rituals or scenes of the world of art; he prepares for a Saturday night out; he tidies up his house on a Sunday afternoon while hanging and taking down his hatchets; a procession of girls dressed in white, holding classical art paintings in their tiny hands, passes by as if working in an art auction, just to mention a few.
The space where Pinocchio lives simulates a large fort inspired in the Hall of Mirrors of the Versailles Palace but stripped from its opulence, for it is made up of wooden boxes originally used for vegetables. Its depth exacerbates the illusion, evidencing the disproportion of scale between the place and the body that inhabits it. The cincture folds over the character, turning the scene into a self-reflective reverie.
With this playful mise-en-scene, where the roles of Pinocchio, the girls and other characters are played by different performers in each action, Mondongo explores issues of gender, and existing taboos on sexuality.
Date: from May 31, June 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6
Time: 8 pm (May 31, and June 1, 2, 5, 6) and 10 pm (June 3)
Venue: Vidriera Mondongo
Admission: Free and open to all
Production: National Museum of Fine Arts, Neuquén – Argentine Ministry of Culture- Neuquén City Hall
Curated by Oscar Smoljan
Juliana Laffitte 1974, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Manuel Mendanha 1976, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
They live and work in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Laffitte and Mendanha studied at the National School of Fine Arts Prilidiano Pueyrredón (Buenos Aires, Argentina). In 1999 they founded the art collective Mondongo. In their works, created with non-conventional materials such as plasticine, cookies, nails, cotton thread, matches, hosts, leather, glossy color paper, color glass, and even cold cuts and cheese; they use a series of pre-existing images determined by different genres like portraits and landscapes. Chief among its solo exhibitions are: Me conformaría con poder dormir (Art Sawa gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2013); Argentina (Buenos Aires National Museum of Modern Arts, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2013); Mondongo (Bose Pacia, New York, United States, 2010; Maddox Arts, London, England, 2008; 798 Art Zone Gallery, Beijing, China, 2008); Gaslighting (Track 16 Gallery, California, United States, 2008); Thread/Bare (Track 16 Gallery, California, United States, 2007); Merca (Ruth Benzacar gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2005); Grande (Daniel Maman Fine Arts, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2004); Esa boca tan grande (Daniel Maman Fine Arts, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2004), and Cumbre (Casa de las Américas, Madrid, Spain, 2004). Their most important collective exhibitions are Encuentros/Tensiones-Arte latinoamericano contemporáneo. Colección Malba + Comodato (Malba, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2013); On Painting (Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Canarias, Spain, 2013); Sex, Money and Power (Maison Particulière, Brussels, Belgium, 2013); Transcultural Narrations: Paperworks (Bangkok University Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand, 2012); Death: A Self-portrait (Wellcome Collection, London, England, 2012); Morbid Curiosity: The Richard Harris Collection (Chicago Cultural Center, Illinois, United States, 2012); Cosmopolitan Routes: House Collects Latin American Art (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, United States, 2011); Printed Matter (798 Art Zone Gallery, Beijing, China, 2008); Contemporáneo 22. Discursos narrativos (Malba, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2008), and From B.A. to L.A. (Track 16 Gallery, California, United States, 2005).
1st Performance Biennial
April 27 thru June 7, 2015
Argentina 2015
2015 Biennial