Pubertà

Daniel Benjamin gallery London, 2021, Photography, printings, painting, performance.

Drawing on the theory of social reproduction this series of canvases and textile works take fungi as a starting point for a conversation on dyadic relationships, transicion and intersectionality. It reminds us of the VII Book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In the epic poem, fungi around the city of Corinth transform into humans as soon as the daughter of divine descent, Medea, arrives in the city. In Pubertà (puberty), human bodies spring from fungi (Metamorphoses, 7.391) and  impersonate rituals of initiation into adulthood. Curiosity, sexual tension, consummation, attention-seeking and insecurity invade every work in a parasitic way to the point of sensual pleasure.
La Lamentatrice (2021) is the perfect example of the artist’s use of the intersection between pleasure and pain. The subject, surrounded by an aureole - sign of divine nature -  is ecstatic yet gripped by hysterical agony. 

Pubertà will also take the form of a video-performance (April - 9). Echoing the same themes of transformation, intersection and transition, the performance will mimic a cam girl live - a celebration of sensual intimacy in everyday life.

Photo by Mattia Balsamini

︎︎︎video

Pubertà carpets

Daniel Benjamin gallery London, 2021, print on velvet.