“HIDING UNDER MY MOTHERS DRESS”/C-PRINT/101,5 CM X 137 CM/EDition of 5/2011
LEE MATERAZZI / JUNE 2012 / PAGE 2/3
FINDING MYSELF AT HOME The first time I saw a work by Lee Materazzi, was two years ago at Pulse Contemporary Art Fair in New York. The photograph I was faced with, depicted a man that on a bizarre way had got himself wrapped in a ladder, going down a staircase head first. In that way Lee Materazzis art, showing small everyday oddities becomes big, entertaining stories about man’s fumbling way across the globe. I immediately fell for her photographs and included her in the Gallery Poulsen group exhibition “Bitches Brew New Art from New York (part 2)” in 2011. We are now proud to present her first solo exhibition in Denmark, “Finding Myself at Home.” Lee Materazzis photographs hit you with great force, they are spontaneous and fun and looking at them simply makes you happy. But you also bump into them - they do indeed have a sharp edge that you cut
yourself on. That’s because her bizarre universe, that is distorted and caricatured, has a special touch with the contemporary. She manages to capture the mood that the world finds itself in right now, where every day seems to bring new, unexpected problems; the things we thought were given fall apart and changes. The same happens in Lee Materazzis photographs – with her absurd pictures of everyday situations, she cuts holes in the life we thought was solid, quiet and stable. Lee Materazzi already has a great career, and I predict that the succes will continue. It is therefore a great pleasure to present her here at Gallery Poulsen. Welcome! Morten Poulsen
Morten Poulsen
‘MY LIFE IS VERY CALM AND ORDERLY, NOTHING TOO CRAZY’ LEE MATERAZZI, 2012
“uNDER THE RUG, UNDER THE PIANO”/C-PRINT/
/86,5 CM X 117 CM/EDition of 5/2011
“SITTING UNDER MY GRANDFATHER´S CHAIR”/C-PRINT/86,5 CM X 117 CM/EDition of 5/2011
LEE MATERAZZI / JUNE 2012 / PAGE 6/7
“IN BETWEEN A PATH”/C-PRINT/137 CM X 101,5 CM/EDition of 5/2011
‘DAILY ACTIVITIES HAVE A VERY CALMING EFFECT FOR ME’ LEE MATERAZZI, 2012
LEE MATERAZZI / JUNE 2012 / PAGE 8/9
“CLOSET SHELF”/C-PRINT/155 CM X 117 CM/EDition of 5/2011
‘MOST OF MY INSPIRATION COMES FROM EVERY DAY ROUTINES’ LEE MATERAZZI, 2012
LEE MATERAZZI / JUNE 2012 / PAGE 10/11
“BETWEEN 2 CHAIRS”/C-PRINT/86,5 CM X 117 CM/EDition of 5/2011
“COFFEE TABLE PIECE”/C-PRINT/DIPTYCH (EACH 63,5 CM X 86,5 CM)/EDition of 5/2011
Interview with Lee Materazzi
This may be too Freudian, but how was your childhood?
>>As a young child I moved around a lot but settled in Miami, when I was 7 with my mother and brother. I can’t say that my upbringing was anything unusual. It was actually very balanced. As I got older I did certainly rebel against the order of The title of the show is “Finding myself at home”, why? such a calm and predictable life style and craved for something completely different. So, perhaps from a Freudian per>>“Finding Myself at Home” was chosen as the title for this spective, my work aims to both recreate and then destroy the body of work because of a duality of meaning. Being a homemundane balance of my childhood. To get closer to my childbody, I literally spend a lot of time at home. The title also sughood I turn towards structure, and to then claim indepengests the finding of an identity within one’s home. Inherently dence I upset that very structure.<< when a person spends a lot of time in their home it can make them feel lost and can challenge their sense of self. The imMiami has a reputation of being fun and colorful but also ages in the show are meant to portray this self-inflicted kitschy and superficial. How did the city affect your work? struggle of loosing and finding one’s self.<< By Tom Hermansen, 2012
>>I grew up in a suburban part of Miami and then returned again after college where I lived closer to the arts districts (Wynwood and the Design District). I returned because it is an >>My home is very warm and peaceful. I am a bit of a homeexcellent place to live as an artist. There is a lot of motivation body so it has always been important to me to have my home to cultivate the arts and see things grow. I currently live in San as a place of sanctuary. Inevitably, this is why the domestic Francisco, which is also a wonderful city for the arts but I setting is very prevalent in my work. My life is also very calm can’t say that I have found the same community that Miami and orderly, nothing too crazy. It is perhaps the contrast behas… In terms of Miami and its kitsch; I think that this is a tween a stable home and then the disorder within my work humor of the city that a lot of artists embrace, comically and that I am truly content.<< ironically. Miami certainly has more substance than just the kitsch but every once in a while it does inspire some of the How did you get into making art? aesthetic decisions I make, for example I shot a piece with my mothers head crowded into a swan shaped mailbox. I’m not >>Initially, I studied garment design in Miami, Florida. I had sure if you could find that just anywhere...<< an empty slot in my school schedule so I took a sculpture class. Gradually both of these interests began to merge toToday, wow is your daily routine and where do you find inspigether. I became very interested in making props to be used ration? in relation to the body and would document this with photography. As time progressed I became more interested in ideas >>In fact, most of my inspiration comes from my every day of the absurd and the spectacle oppose to the practical funcroutines. This is where I have my most creative revelations; tion of design. From there I went on to study sculpture at CenGrocery shopping, doing the laundry, or organizing things tral St. Martins in London where I was able to further experisuch as a closet or sock drawer. Such daily activities have a ment with the body as a sculptural element and as a device to very calming effect for me… getting back to the possible deviate from everyday life.<< Freudian explanation behind my work.<<
How is your own home? Crazy and messy or cozy and calm?
LEE MATERAZZI / JUNE 2012 / PAGE 14/15
You seem to cherish the small things in everyday-life. Do we >>I feel that the dissipation of many collectives in art is due generally forget to appreciate the small day-to-day miracles? to the making of rules; of creating a system of how things should be done and what art should be. As soon as that hap>>I find much significance in the small somewhat mundane pens there naturally comes the innate need to rebel against details of life. A lot of the time the small things can be great that order. I believe that is how the Situationst movement metaphors for an understanding of the bigger picture. It is came to an end. However, I would by no means say that this very easy for people to overlook routines within their life, as it end was a suicide. I believe that they paved a path for many is the big eventful moments that stand out more. I have never new ideas, both within life and art.<< been one for the monumental but rather the simple and unThe avant-garde movements could be brutal, even violent derstated.<< and in some of your photos the persons seem to be in painful The Dada movement in the beginning of the 1900s also fo- situations. Is life painful? cused on small, weird things. Art historically, where are your inspirations? >>Many of the subjects are in vulnerable or painful situations and ironically the situations that they are in is meant as >>Dada, the Situationists, Fluxus, and many contemporary an escape from something else much more docile. Personartists working today inspire me. From Dada, specifically, I ally I find complacency and stagnation the most painful aswould say that my work possesses the same reasoning of pects of life, whilst burying myself in the backyard or hanging finding sense in non-sense. Dada sought to go against the from the kitchen table is much more soothing. I suppose pain grain of the establishment and create anarchy. My work fol- is trivial in this way.<< lows this agenda but in a very ironic sense. The rebellion demonstrated within my work is a futile effort. The comic di- Your work has been compared to the contemporary Austrian sasters of the subjects are equally as important as their initial artist Erwin Wurm. What is your view on his art? efforts to break out of conformity. It is the self-defeatist humor of the work that truly accomplishes something.<< >>My work has frequently been compared to the work of Erwin Wurm, of whom I am a fan. Where our work is similar is The avant-garde movements that you mention wanted to dis- the everydayness, the portrayal of the ordinary in an absurd tort the established society. Is that a thought you share? way. I believe that the work of Wurm is more objective than mine, referencing the history and evolution of sculpture such >>I believe that in pronouncing one thing you both accom- as in his â&#x20AC;&#x153;One Minute Sculpturesâ&#x20AC;? where he made a sculpture plish that and the opposite. In other words, by rebelling using the human body in a minute. A part of the work was the against the established order of society you also enforce that challenge to create a sculptural composition under the presorder. Within my work, I do set out to distort the conventions sure of spontaneity. My work on the other hand can be very in society but most of the time the point is the failure to actu- subjective and premeditated; it specifically speaks of someally do so.<< thing happening in my life.<< The leading situationist AndrĂŠ Breton said that his ultimate art work would be to take a gun and shoot into a crowd; to tear the capitalist society apart. Was the avant-gardes too radical and did that in the end lead to their own suicide?
‘THE IMAGES ARE MEANT TO PORTRAY THIS SELF-INFLICTED STRUGGLE OF LOOSING AND FINDING ONE’S SELF’ LEE MATERAZZI, 2012
LEE MATERAZZI / JUNE 2012 / PAGE 16/17
“LEVEL WITH THE BACKYARD”/C-PRINT/63,5 CM X 47,5 CM/EDition of 5/2011
‘A LOT OF THE TIME THE SMALL THINGS CAN BE GREAT METAPHORS FOR AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIGGER PICTURE’ LEE MATERAZZI, 2012
LEE MATERAZZI / JUNE 2012 / PAGE 18/19
“HANGING IN THE CLOSET”/C-PRINT/162 CM X 117 CM/EDition of 5/2011
“THE SPACE BETWEEN TWO DRESSERS”/C-PRINT/TRIPTYCH (EACH 47,5 CM X 63,5 CM)/EDition of 5/2011
‘I HAVE NEVER BEEN ONE FOR THE MONUMENTAL BUT RATHER THE SIMPLE AND UNDERSTATED’ LEE MATERAZZI, 2012
LEE MATERAZZI / JUNE 2012 / PAGE 22/23
“WALL PAPER”/C-PRINT/63,5 CM X 86,5 CM/EDition of 5/2011
“HANGING ONTO MY KITCHEN TABLE”/C-PRINT/63,5 CM X 86,5 CM/EDition of 5/2011
LEE MATERAZZI / JUNE 2012 / PAGE 24/25
“BASEMENT DOOR”/C-PRINT/86,5 CM X 117 CM/EDition of 5/2011
CV AND EXHIBITIONS LEE MATERAZZI Education 2002 - 05 Central St. Martins, London Institute, London, UK BA/ Fine Arts
Solo Exhibitions 2012 Finding Myself at Home, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, DK 2011 Spaces with Meaning, Quint Contemporary, Art LA, Los Angeles, CA 2010 Feels Like Home, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL 2009 Cluttered, Spinello Gallery, Pulse, Miami, FL Making Space, Quint Contemporary, La Jolla, CA 2008 In Between Places, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL
2009 Quint: Three Decades of Contemporary Art, California Center for the Arts Escondido, CA
The Continuing Adventures of Our Heroine, curated by Aramis Gutierrez and Pepe Mar, David Castillo Gallery, Miami, FL 2007 Littlest Sister, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL
Selected Group Exhibitions
Little Boxes, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL
2011 Bitches Brew - New Art from New York (Part II) Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, DK
Confluence: A Collaboration, Frederick Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
Abe’s Penny Live, curated by Anna Knoebel & Tess Knoebel, Miami, FL
2006 The Tupperware Party, Red Dot Project, Miami, FL
2005 2010 C Print, Wynwood Arts District, Miami, FL Littlest Sister, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL Hope Blossoms, The Margulies Collection at the A Private View, Merc Studios, Miami, FL Warehouse, Miami, FL Wearable Expressions, Palos Verde Art Center, Mystic Visage, curated by Desiree Cronk, World Palos Verde, CA Class Boxing, Miami, FL Knock Knock: Who’s There? That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore, curated by Sarah Murkett & Elena Rubinfeld, Fred Torres Collaborations, New York, NY Abracadadra, curated by Anthony Spinello, Art & Culture Center of Hollywood, FL
Public Collections The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, Miami, FL World Class Boxing, The Collection of Debra & Denis Scholl, Miami, FL
2007 Work, The Front Room, Miami, FL
2009 The Scholl Collection, curated by Trevor Schoonmaker, Miami, FL
The Collection at the Sagamore Hotel, Miami, FL
Museum Exhibitions
101, HoW to Make A Gallery A Home, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL
Selected Art Fairs
Confection, OHWOW, Miami, FL
2012 ArtLA, Quint Contemporary
2008 Schedenfrau, curated by Daniel Newman, Design District, Miami, FL
2011 Scope NY, Spinello Gallery
2011 Florida Contemporary 2011, Naples Museum of Art, Florida
LEE MATERAZZI / JUNE 2012 / PAGE 26/27
2010 MACO Mexico, Spinello Gallery
Behind the Mask at World Class Boxing, Miami New Times,July 2, 2010
2009 Photo LA, Spinello Gallery
Wilton, Kris. Have You Heard the One About the Urnial?, Artinfo, April 2, 2010.
Pulse Miami, Spinello Gallery 2008 Circa Puerto Rico, Spinello Gallery
Laster, Paul. Photo Gallery: Art That Makes You Laugh, Flavorwire, April 2, 2010
Pulse New York, Spinello Gallery 2007 Pulse Miami, Spinello Gallery
Tschida, Anne. Food Fight! Laundry Duty! Pictures From the Domestic Stuggle, Knights Arts, May 14, 2010. Hood, John. NiteTalk: Losing Our Heads for Lee Materazzi. NBC Miami, May 17, 2010
Toronto International Art Fair, Spinello Gallery Scope New York, Spinello Gallery Art LA, Spinello Gallery
Maza, Erik. Spinello Gallery Sells $5,000 Washing Machine New Times Miami, May 17, 2010 Kleinman, Rebecca. The People Who Make Miami, March 2010
Scope Miami, Spinello Gallery Scope Hamptons, Spinello Gallery
Pincus, Robert L. Visual Fantasies, San Diego Union Tribune, March 12, 2009
2006 Nova Art Fair Chicago, Red Dot Project
Barrenechea, Victor. Female but Maybe Not Feminist, Biscayne Times, Volume 6, Issue 8.
Scope New York, Spinello Gallery
De Jesus. Carlos Suarez. Heads Down, Miami New Times, June 12, 2008
Scope Miami, Spinello Gallery Scope Hamptons, Spinello Gallery
Triff, Alfredo. Desnudo y paradoja sin rostro en la fotografia, El Nuevo Herald, June 3, 2008
2005 Scope Hamptons, Spinello Gallery
Dunlop, Beth. Beauty in Truth, Home Miami, December 2007
Bibliography
De Jesus, Carlos Suarez. Miniart Art, Miami New Times, November 22, 2007
Print Segal, Gilad. Spaces with Meaning, Published by Quint Contemporary, January 2011
Sinclair, Aimee. An Interview with Thomas Hollingworth & Lee Materazzi Gallery Diet, August 2007
Hsieh, Catherine. Homecoming, New York Arts Magazine, Fall 2011
Tschida, Anne. CULTURE SURGE: Photo Flourish, Category 305, January 26, 2006
Pajot, S. Cindy Sherman and Lee Materazzi Get
De Jesus, Carlos Suarez. Sugar and Spice Girls,
Miami New Times, March 2006 Video Bilowit, Bill & Orihuela, Grela. Wet Heat Project, http://wetheat.tv/A-Roll_Materazzi.html Vigliotti, Jonathan & Scholl, Dennis, Plum TV:Lee Materazzi, http://miamibeach.plumtv.com/videos/ lee_materazzi
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