June 4th - July 30th ,2015
Opening: Thursday June 4th 2015, 7.30 pm
On Thursday, June 4th 2015 at 7.30 pm Galleria Paola Verrengia will present the exhibition “no coffee no cigarettes” with works by Felice Levini e H.H. Lim.
Lim is of Chinese origins. He was born in Malaysia and he has been living in Rome since 1976. His ability to summarize various socio-cultural topics and contexts in addition to his interest for the language as a result of this synthesis is related to the predisposition that he inherited from his country of origin, characterized by a multicultural, multilingual and multiethnic nation.
Levini was born in Rome, where he currently lives and works. He takes inspiration from a daily life made of small presences that don’t have the heroic and unique character of the mythological universe (Achille Bonito Oliva). Through the use of painting, drawing, assemblages and performances he creates works rich of correspondences that are not immediately evident, but almost “suspended”.
They both use writing as a means of expression, although Levini prefers to highlight the peculiar relationship that exists between images and words (his references and statements are never a simple explanatory addition to icons, but they often turn into aphorisms). Lim, on the other hand, insists on exploring the relationship between words and space.
Another element that these two artists have in common is the ability to “animate” their installations through performances imbued by an autonomous time and structure. During the opening reception the space of the gallery will be turned into a stage where the two artists can pretend to see each other again after twenty years in front of a black and white photo shot in 1993. Such image will portray them as “Il Gatto e la Volpe” to consolidate their long term collaboration and friendship. “Their look is less disheveled, today. Their clothes are those of two young successful managers who are also wearing black sunglasses because they refuse to see the “miseries of the past” ”. (Lucia Spadano)
The performance entitled “no coffee no cigarettes” will be accompanied by the musical background of Leonard Cohen extrapolated from the movie “Coffee and Cigarettes“directed by Jim Jarmusch (stories in black and white spiced up with coffee and cigarettes). In 1993 Jim Jarmusch won the “Short Film Palme d’Or” at the Cannes Film Festival.
Among the works on display, besides the great four handed photo “Il Gatto e la Volpe”, we’ll show the work Golden carpet by H.H. Lim, a ritual carpet where the gold located beyond the threshold represents art intended as a value. We will also show the work Astratti fuori by Felice Levini, the simulation of a door that is not only entrance or exit, but also a space defined between land and sky.
Special thanks to RAM radioartemobile media partner that will be present at the opening to document the event.
Felice Levini was born in Rome in 1956, where he lives and works. The following list contains a selection of his most recent solo and group exhibitions: Anni Settanta. Arte a Roma curated by Daniela Lancioni, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome (2014); Nord-Est Sud-Ovest, GNAM Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome (curated by Achille Bonito Oliva), (2013); Tirannicidi. Ritratto di una città. Arte a Roma 1960-2001, MACRO Museum, Rome (2012); Camere da viaggio, Zonca & Zonca, Milan (2011); Armadio: Torre, babele balbuziente, Nuova Pesa Gallery, Rome (2010); Non finirà mai… , Galleria De Crescenzo & Viesti, Roma ( 2009); Calice di Venere, A.A.M. Architettura Arte Moderna, Rome (2006); La febbre degli dei, Galleria Andrea, Vicenza (2004); Felice Levini. Works from 1982 to 2003, Galleria La Scaletta, San Polo D’Elsa, Reggio Emilia (essay written by Renato Barilli) ( 2003); Meridiano celeste, Acquario Romano, Rome, exhibition organized by Comune di Roma in collaboration with A.A.M. Architettura Arte Moderna, (essays written by Nicoletta Cardano, Raffaele Gavarro, Luce Monachesi, Francesco Moschini and Ludovico Pratesi) ( 2002); E’ solo un giorno senza termine, Galleria De Crescenzo & Viesti, Roma (2000); 7300 giorni fa, Galleria Pio Monti, Roma (1997); La zebra non è una squadra di calcio e neanche una guardia svizzera, Galleria La Nuova Pesa, Roma (1995); Participation to the 43rd and 45th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition, Venice (1988 -1993); Felice Levini and H.H. Lim in Il Gatto e la Volpe, Galleria Per Mari e Monti, Macerata; Felice Levini and H.H. Lim in Il Gatto e la Volpe, Galleria Pio Monti, Rome (1993); Quattro punti cardinali (serata unica), Galleria Sprovieri, Rome (1992); Participation in the XXXIV Festival dei due mondi of Spoleto (1991); In cielo in terra, Il progetto per incognita, Edicola Notte, Vicolo del Cinque, Rome (1990).
H.H.Lim was born in Malaysia in 1954. He lives and works between Rome and Penang. This is a selection of his most recent solo and group exhibitions: Migrating Forms and Migrating Gods, The Museum of Goa, collateral event, Kochi Muziris Biennale, India (2014). Tornare al Senso Costruttivo, performance, Teatro Verdi, Milan (2014). Open Museum Open City, project for R.A.M radioartemobile and for the Maxxi Collection, Rome. Sconfinamenti Spoleto 57th festival dei due mondi, Spoleto, Politicamente Parlando, Galleria Bianconi, Milan (2014), La Nuit Blanche, La Gaitè Lyrique, Paris (2013); 6. Prague Biennale, Prague (2013); 55th.Venice Biennale, International Art Exhibition, Pavilion dedicated to the Republic of Cuba, Venice (2013); John Cage Experiments And Its Context, NCCA National Center of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2013Landscape on the Move, De Vleeshal & De Kabinetten van de Vleeshal, Middelburg – Holland (2012); Il tesoro nascosto, GNAM Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome (2011); Tang Gallery, Bangkok (2011); 12th.Venice Biennale, International Exhibition, Architecture, Venice (2010); 3 Camere, R.A.M radioartemobile, Rome (2010); Gone with the Wind, UCCA Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2010); Onda Anomala, Evento Pallelo at Manifesta 7, Von Morenberg, Trento (2008); Guangdong Station, Art Museum, Guandong (2008); Emergency Biennale, Istanbul Biennal (2007); Wherever We Go, Walter & McBean Galleries, San Francisco (2007); the 5th Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen,Art Museum of He Xiangning, Shenzhen (2006 “Sweet Taboos” “Go Inside”, Tirana Biennial 3, National Gallery of Art, Tirana (2005); À l’ouest du sud de l’est, CRAC Regional Center of Contemporary Art, Languedoc-Roussillon, Sète – France (2004), Villa Arson, Nice (2004) Le Opere e i Giorni, Certosa di San Lorenzo, Padula (2002) Tribù dell’Arte, MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome (2001).
