Battito di ciglia – Urs Fischer

The Massimo De Carlo art gallery, founded in Milan in 1987, achieved significant international acclaim by introducing names such as Maurizio Cattelan, Rudolf Stingel, Yan Pei–Ming and many more. For over thirty years this gallery has been launching the most important artists of the global market, so it is not surprising that it has recently opened its new Asian headquarters, in Hong Kong to be precise. The gallery is now staging in its two Milan venues (via ventura 5 and Palazzo Belgioioso), Battito di Ciglia (Blink of an Eye), a solo exhibition by Swiss artist Urs Fischer that will be on show till December 17th.

Provocative and never dull, Fischer uses all sorts of expressive media: from sculpture to drawing, from art installation to photography. Oscillating between burlesque and the uncanny, his research is truly amazing, and watching his sculptures-installations always leaves an aura of mystery.

Do you remember the wax Candle Sculpture at the Venice Biennale of 2011? That was actually one of his most famous works. For the Massimo De Carlo gallery’s exhibition he displays a series of mini–sculptures made of coloured plasticine, which he distributes (at risk of being trampled) in the empty areas on the ground. We find eyes, flowers, horses, twisted puppets, hybrid forms: all works of a naive taste, sometimes bordering on trash art.

Urs, the undisputed star of the contemporary art scene, is a self-taught artist (indeed, he studied photography in Zurich) and he achieved success as soon as he moved to New York. I have always found the word “self-taught” fascinating. Sometimes teaching yourself can change your life, and Urs Fischer’s work is the tangible proof of this.

Photo credit: MDC Massimo De Carlo