NICOLA MARTINI / and welded skin

For his first solo exhibition in Switzerland, Milan-based artist Nicola Martini presents a new body of work. Known for his sculptural practice, in which he experiments with dissimilar materials, such as organic and synthetic liquids, minerals, metals and different kinds of plastic, Martini reveals often previously unseen, as well as unexpected compositions. The chemical and physical material properties guide the artist, allowing him to reconstruct and sometimes reconfigure different substances.

Martini perceives every work to be part of a bigger, expanding reality. However, in order to decelerate this process, he reverses the action and deconstructs his own sculptures. He grinds them down to a different material state and then combines with other recycled sculptures, from earlier periods. Mixed with liquid and sometimes clay, the substance is poured into shaped acrylic containers, thus folding time and space. Independent from the author, the materials collide in an uncontrollable formation, before turning into sediment.

Consequently, Martini anticipates a new understanding of reality via the making and unmaking of materials. Rather than revealing entropy (a gradual decline into disorder), his artistic practice indicates fusion through moments in time, in order that substances are allowed to enter cycles of permanent regeneration.

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Nicola Martini, born 1984, in Florence. Recent solo-exhibitions include at Dittrich & Schlechtriem (Berlin, 2018) and Kaufmann Repetto (New York, 2015). In addition, he has participated in numerous two-person and group shows, such as at Villa Medici (Rome, 2019); Palazzo Fortuny (Venice, 2017); 16th Quadriennale di Roma (2016) and Triennale Museum (Milan, 2015).