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As precious as blue

Mike Nelson takes to the Franco Noero Gallery in Turin pieces of his exhibition-performance at the headquarters of UBS bank, in a meditation on architecture and money.

Mike Nelson, “Cloak of rags (Tale of a dismembered bank, rendered in blue)”, Galleria Franco Noero, 2017

Galleria Franco Noero presents an exhibition by artist Mike Nelson – “Cloak of rags (Tale of a dismembered bank, rendered in blue)” – whose genesis began in a bank in Monaco. The sculptural series presented in Turin are an aftermath of the exhibition in Monaco, where the artist took some pieces, interest in self consumption, or cannibalism of his own oeuvre.

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Mike Nelson, “Cloak of rags (Tale of a dismembered bank, rendered in blue)”, Galleria Franco Noero, 2017

Mike Nelson, “Cloak of rags (Tale of a dismembered bank, rendered in blue)”, Galleria Franco Noero, 2017

Mike Nelson, “Cloak of rags (Tale of a dismembered bank, rendered in blue)”, Galleria Franco Noero, 2017

Mike Nelson, “Cloak of rags (Tale of a dismembered bank, rendered in blue)”, Galleria Franco Noero, 2017

Mike Nelson, images of the Cloak site-specific intervention at the UBS bank in Monaco

Mike Nelson, images of the Cloak site-specific intervention at the UBS bank in Monaco

Mike Nelson, images of the Cloak site-specific intervention at the UBS bank in Monaco

Mike Nelson, images of the Cloak site-specific intervention at the UBS bank in Monaco

Mike Nelson, images of the Cloak site-specific intervention at the UBS bank in Monaco

Mike Nelson, images of the Cloak site-specific intervention at the UBS bank in Monaco

Mike Nelson, images of the Cloak site-specific intervention at the UBS bank in Monaco

Before being fully renovated, the headquarters of UBS – a nine-storey building situated in the heart of the city – became in fact an artwork by Mike Nelson, an exhibition commissioned by the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco in 2016. Every surface inside the building, from the architectural parts to the objects and furniture left there, was spray painted blue and the whole interior became an environment entitled Cloak, with and overall effect of immersion and alteration of one’s perception and reality.

Mike Nelson, “Cloak of rags (<i>Tale of a dismembered bank, rendered in blue</i>)”, Galleria Franco Noero, 2017 — Mike Nelson, “Cloak of rags (Tale of a dismembered bank, rendered in blue)”, Galleria Franco Noero, 2017

Cloak was a response to the building, a meditation on its status and on currency. The relationship between art and money, entwined with the constantly shifting geographies of world powers and economies, led Nelson to look at the currency of pigment and colour. Returning to basic art history he was reminded of the high price paid for the rarest of blue pigment, the Ultramarine.

Mike Nelson, images of the Cloak site-specific intervention at the UBS bank in Monaco — Mike Nelson, images of the Cloak site-specific intervention at the UBS bank in Monaco

Its literal translation – “beyond the sea” – referred to the mines of North Eastern Afghanistan from the perspective of the Italian traders who first brought it to the West in the 14th and 15th centuries. Ultramarine was widely used in Renaissance and Baroque paintings, usually reserved to depict the flowing robe or ‘cloak’ of the Virgin Mary. However, the pigment had been used also in Neolithic burial mounds and the tombs of Egypt, Sumer and Ur amongst others. The semi-precious stone from which the pigment is derived, lapis lazuli, has been mined in the mountains of North East Afghanistan for millennia – recently providing the second largest income for the Taliban, after opium.

The UBS building located on avenue de Grande-Bretagne in Monaco

until 25 March 2017
Mike Nelson. Cloak of rags
(Tale of a dismembered bank, rendered in blue)
Galleria Franco Noero
via Mottalciata, Turin

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