Disbend-suspend. L’universo originale di Monique Lacey

Non è un caso che per parlarci di sé Monique Lacey inizi dal mondo che la circonda e che ci circonda. Si comprende subito già da questo particolare che ella interpreta il suo essere artista non come una sovrastruttura, ma come il sangue stesso della quotidianità di cui sente di essere non solo partecipe, ma anche responsabile. La CNN – che ascolta sovente mentre è nel suo studio a lavorare – le trascrive il mondo così com’è, affinché ella possa analizzarlo, distruggerlo e riprogettarlo in una dimensione più vera e più umana. E questo lavoro di analisi, distruzione e riprogettazione diventa per Monique una sorta di battaglia, un vero corpo a corpo con la materia che si trasforma contro il peso della sua persona e rinasce dalle sue mani. I materiali che usa sono comuni e poveri, semplici cartoni da imballaggio, intonaci, collanti; nella sua idea, però, l’atto creativo è il vero soffio vitale, quello che fa rinascere in altra condizione, quello che sovverte e rovescia e può cambiare il gioco. C’è una forza nei suoi lavori che lascia trasparire una filosofia profonda e una consapevolezza del vivere sociale tormentata e lineare allo stesso tempo. Le sue opere vivono di un contrasto evidentissimo: le geometrie dense e irregolari, le colorazioni consistenti e primigenie parlano di una gravezza che l’occhio riesce a smascherare, perché quel “peso” è sempre in bilico, quasi sospeso nell’incertezza della sua esistenza. Così l’artista perfettamente riesce a rappresentare il disquilibrio del nostro mondo, l’insicurezza dell’uomo contemporaneo, la prevaricazione della forma sulla realtà del messaggio. Lo fa con la risolutezza che hanno solo le donne nello smascherare l’inganno, con l’ironia graffiante di chi distrugge senza ferire, con la perseveranza del saggio che conosce la fragilità del limite tra verità e menzogna. Oscurità e finzione sono le disvelate protagoniste dell’universo originale di Monique Lacey; esistono ma non riescono a restare nascoste e sotto l’occhio acuto dell’artista diventano fenomenologia della realtà in una trascrizione quasi satirica che fa riflettere senza spaventare. L’oggetto artistico è lì, quasi preesistente alla creazione, ma inquadrato da una scaltra angolazione che gli dà senso e restituisce verità. La cifra caratteristica dell’artista è in un minimalismo generoso che vibra ora nella corposa grumosità del colore, ora in una composta inclinazione assiale, ora nel raggrinzirsi affascinante della materia, ma anche nella intensità di certi titoli che parlano di un mondo in affanno e da rifare, ma mai sconfitto.

Anna R. G. Rivelli

DISBEND- SUSPEND. The original universe of Monique Lacey

It is no coincidence that when it comes to talking about herself, Monique Lacey starts from the world that surrounds her and that surrounds us. This makes it immediately clear that she sees the artist in herself not as an overtone, but as the true pulse of everyday life where she not only feels she is an active participant, but also feels responsible for it. The CNN – which she often listens to while working in her studio – records the world for her exactly as it is, so that she can analyze it, destroy it, and then redesign it in a truer and more human dimension. And for Monique, this work that involves analysing, destroying and redesigning becomes a sort of battle, a real hand-to-hand with the material that is transformed against her own weight and is then recreated with her own hands. The materials she uses are common and plain, such as simple cardboard boxes, plaster, and adhesives. From her viewpoint, however, the act of creating is the actual vital breath, one that revives in other conditions, one that subverts, reverses and can turn the tables. There is a certain power in her works that reveals both a profound philosophy as well as the awareness of a tormented, yet balanced social life. Her works are characterised by a highly evident contrast: the dense, irregular patterns and the consistent, primordial colours speak of a seriousness that the eye manages to unmask, because that “weight” is constantly hovering, almost as if suspended in the uncertainty of its existence .

Thus the artist perfectly manages to represent the disequilibrium of our world, the insecurity of contemporary man, and the abuse of form on the reality of the message. She carries this out with the resoluteness that only women have in unmasking deception, with the biting irony of those who are capable of destroying without hurting, and with the perseverance of the wise who are aware of the fragility of the boundary that exists between truth and lie. Darkness and pretence are the unveiled protagonists of Monique Lacey’s original universe – they exist and cannot remain hidden, and, under the sharp eye of the artist they become the phenomenology of reality in a nearly satirical recording which leads you to reflect without being frightened. The artistic object is there, nearly existent even before creation, but is framed by a sharp angle that gives it meaning and restores truth. The characteristic mark of the artist lies in a generous kind of minimalism that takes form sometimes in the dense glob of colour, sometimes in a neat axial inclination, and sometimes in the fascinating shrivelling of the materials, but also in the intensity of certain claims that speak of a troubled world in need of re-building, but which remains undefeated.

Anna R. G. Rivelli

translation by Filomena M. Sinisi

Don't box me in_Monique Lacey 2019 — Don't box me in 2019

If Cat Woman's Costume Was Made Out Of Lycra_Monique Lacey_2019 — If Cat Woman's Costume Was Made Out Of Lycra 2019

Let's pretend it never happened-Monique Lacey — Let's pretend it never happened

Trying to contain the middle aged spread_Monique Lacey 2019 — Trying to contain the middle aged spread 2019

Snowblind_Monique Lacey_2018 — Snowblind 2018

In this time of flux and turbulence our ability to make sense of the world seems to have been obliterated. I frequently listen to CNN while in the studio as I am interested in the political ongoings in the U.S. Over time it has become apparent that Donald Trump’s frequently slurred speech patterns and his ability to skew a soundbite into a completely new language, is beginning to have a major impact on our culture. This leaves us focussing on memes and not the message. My work speaks to the nature of these circumstances.

My work starts with commercial packaging materials purchased at local hardware storesandoffer structural propositions of both volume and surface. The materials are assembled and covered with plaster and other materials, which act as both binding agent and new surface to conceal and/or reveal the structure underneath.While there is an adherence to truth of materials, the materials are used to construct a level of artificein the work. The transformation and elevation of the ordinariness of the humble, cardboard box fascinates me.The initial building up of each form is countered by a crushing act that results in the form being either destroyed or substantially reconfigured. The act of crushing is a performative act using the body’s weight, and is one that can be playful, aggressive or cathartic.

My work finds it footing in Minimalism, the largely male dominated era, where we found the likes of Donald Judd making anonymous “specific objects”. While my work still embraces the manufactured, utilitarian materials of the world, there is an emphatic emphasis on me as the maker. There is labour and action involved in the making of the work, but not through overtly gestural conventions associated with Abstract Expressionism. It meets Minimalism out of an ascetic drive, and an “it is but it isn’t” adherence to the idea that material is the material, but it differs through its parallel embrace of deceit and its rejection of austere, cool finishes.