MICHAEL STANIAK
EDUARDO SECCI MILANO - Via Zenale
Milan, from September 23 to November 18, 2022
Opening: Friday, September 23, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Exhibition walkthrough video available online
Exhibition view, Michael Staniak, 2022, Eduardo Secci Milano, Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Eduardo Secci is pleased to announce the opening of the solo show by Michael Staniak, from September 23 to November 18, 2022, in the gallery space in Via Zenale in Milan.
The Australian artist's work is characterized by very physical technique, combined with imaging and modeling software. This combination of traditional and new media evokes frescoed cave walls, rock carvings, and ancient monuments, representing a homage to digital data collection, 3D image processing, and screen-based aesthetics.
Among the recent and never-before-seen paintings of the BMP series, realized using casting compounds, some are for the first time in the horizontal orientation. Staniak shifted his focus to the landscape as a subject matter while continuing his intense investigation of naturally occurring material. The choice of the landscape format and the application of textures make him more interested in the act of creating signs and in the constant search to capture them in materials similar to rock. Recognizing a continuity with the paintings of 2015, we observe in the BMP series the evolution of the palette and the introduction of other media, such as iron oxide, which years later moved away from digital UV imaging. Ironically, the omission of the digital process has further enhanced a screen-like aesthetic.
OBJ (monument) sculptures on display see Staniak's return to bronze working, modelling the starting material with 3D software. However, these new sculptural works of the series replace the cave subject with 3D scans of ancient relics, some of which have represented the reference point of cultural iconography for centuries. In addition, the artist intervenes digitally on the scans to differ from their original form and constitute a reinterpretation of the ancient monuments. In this way, he intends to highlight the malleability of intangible digital data and, at the same time, celebrate the permanence of cultural information carved from solid material. This tension is further explored by casting the final forms in bronze and painting them to reflect the aesthetics of the 3D CAD software.
The exhibition walkthrough video will be online at www.eduardosecci.com/exhibitions.
Michael Staniak, BMP_Oxide painting 077, 2022, casting compound, iron oxide, and acrylic on engineered wood panel, steel frame, 181.2 x 241.2 cm (71 x 94 in), Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Michael Staniak, BMP_Oxide painting 053, 2022, casting compound, iron oxide, and acrylic on engineered wood panel, steel frame, 136.2 x 181.2 cm (54 x 71 in), Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Michael Staniak (1982, Melbourne, Australia) lives and works in Melbourne. He obtained a BFA and MFA from the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, and a BA in Digital Media Communications from the Middle Tennessee State University. His works have been exhibited at Arts and Cultural Centre of Newfoundland, Gander (2019); Hunted Projects, Edinburgh (2019); Homeostasis Lab Pavilion, Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo (2017); Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Saint Louis (2015); The Moving Museum, Istanbul (2014); Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2014, 2015). In 2017, after his solo show, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis published the monograph titled “IMG_” dedicated to his work.
Michael Staniak, OBJ_134 (monument), 2022, bronze and acrylic, 55 x 30 x 21 cm (21.5 x 12 x 8.5 in), Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Michael Staniak, OBJ_132 (monument), 2022, bronze and acrylic, 75 x 28 x 30 cm (29.5 x 11 x 12 in), Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Eduardo Secci is an Italian art gallery in Florence - where it was founded in 2013 - and Milan with two locations opened in 2021 and 2022. It presents a double program featuring the exhibitions of the main gallery and its independent experimental space NOVO.
EDUARDO SECCI Milano - Via Zenale
Michael Staniak
From September 23 to November 18, 2022
Harvest of Time - Monika Grzymala
From September 23 to November 18, 2022
Via Zenale 3, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Monday - Friday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Friday, September 23, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Milano - Via Olmetto (NEW LOCATION)
Remains to be seen - Chris Soal
From September 21 to November 11, 2022
NOVO Milano - Via Olmetto (NEW LOCATION)
David Schnell, curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto
From September 21 to November 11, 2022
Via Olmetto 1, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Wednesday, September 21, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Firenze
Gio’ Pomodoro, critical text by Sergio Risaliti
From September 16 to December 23, 2022
NOVO Firenze
The Dream of Reason - Daria Dmytrenko, curated by Edoardo Monti
From September 16 to November 19, 2022
Piazza Goldoni 2, Florence, Italy / +39 055 661356 / firenze@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Friday, September 16, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
www.eduardosecci.com / gallery@eduardosecci.com
IG @eduardoseccigallery / FB @eduardoseccicontemporary
www.novo.ooo / hello@novo.ooo
IG @novo_projects / FB @NOVOprojects
Exhibition walkthroughs videos with artists and curators:
www.eduardosecci.com/exhibitions - www.novo.ooo/exhibitions
Press Office: THE KNACK STUDIO / Tamara Lorenzi
tamara@theknackstudio.com / +39 347 0712934
info@theknackstudio.com / www.theknackstudio.com
MICHAEL STANIAK
EDUARDO SECCI MILANO - Via Zenale
Milan, from September 23 to November 18, 2022
Opening: Friday, September 23, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Exhibition walkthrough video available online
Exhibition view, Michael Staniak, 2022, Eduardo Secci Milano, Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Eduardo Secci is pleased to announce the opening of the solo show by Michael Staniak, from September 23 to November 18, 2022, in the gallery space in Via Zenale in Milan.
The Australian artist's work is characterized by very physical technique, combined with imaging and modeling software. This combination of traditional and new media evokes frescoed cave walls, rock carvings, and ancient monuments, representing a homage to digital data collection, 3D image processing, and screen-based aesthetics.
Among the recent and never-before-seen paintings of the BMP series, realized using casting compounds, some are for the first time in the horizontal orientation. Staniak shifted his focus to the landscape as a subject matter while continuing his intense investigation of naturally occurring material. The choice of the landscape format and the application of textures make him more interested in the act of creating signs and in the constant search to capture them in materials similar to rock. Recognizing a continuity with the paintings of 2015, we observe in the BMP series the evolution of the palette and the introduction of other media, such as iron oxide, which years later moved away from digital UV imaging. Ironically, the omission of the digital process has further enhanced a screen-like aesthetic.
OBJ (monument) sculptures on display see Staniak's return to bronze working, modelling the starting material with 3D software. However, these new sculptural works of the series replace the cave subject with 3D scans of ancient relics, some of which have represented the reference point of cultural iconography for centuries. In addition, the artist intervenes digitally on the scans to differ from their original form and constitute a reinterpretation of the ancient monuments. In this way, he intends to highlight the malleability of intangible digital data and, at the same time, celebrate the permanence of cultural information carved from solid material. This tension is further explored by casting the final forms in bronze and painting them to reflect the aesthetics of the 3D CAD software.
The exhibition walkthrough video will be online at www.eduardosecci.com/exhibitions.
Michael Staniak, BMP_Oxide painting 077, 2022, casting compound, iron oxide, and acrylic on engineered wood panel, steel frame, 181.2 x 241.2 cm (71 x 94 in), Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Michael Staniak, BMP_Oxide painting 053, 2022, casting compound, iron oxide, and acrylic on engineered wood panel, steel frame, 136.2 x 181.2 cm (54 x 71 in), Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Michael Staniak (1982, Melbourne, Australia) lives and works in Melbourne. He obtained a BFA and MFA from the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, and a BA in Digital Media Communications from the Middle Tennessee State University. His works have been exhibited at Arts and Cultural Centre of Newfoundland, Gander (2019); Hunted Projects, Edinburgh (2019); Homeostasis Lab Pavilion, Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo (2017); Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Saint Louis (2015); The Moving Museum, Istanbul (2014); Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2014, 2015). In 2017, after his solo show, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis published the monograph titled “IMG_” dedicated to his work.
Michael Staniak, OBJ_134 (monument), 2022, bronze and acrylic, 55 x 30 x 21 cm (21.5 x 12 x 8.5 in), Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Michael Staniak, OBJ_132 (monument), 2022, bronze and acrylic, 75 x 28 x 30 cm (29.5 x 11 x 12 in), Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Eduardo Secci is an Italian art gallery in Florence - where it was founded in 2013 - and Milan with two locations opened in 2021 and 2022. It presents a double program featuring the exhibitions of the main gallery and its independent experimental space NOVO.
EDUARDO SECCI Milano - Via Zenale
Michael Staniak
From September 23 to November 18, 2022
Harvest of Time - Monika Grzymala
From September 23 to November 18, 2022
Via Zenale 3, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Monday - Friday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Friday, September 23, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Milano - Via Olmetto (NEW LOCATION)
Remains to be seen - Chris Soal
From September 21 to November 11, 2022
NOVO Milano - Via Olmetto (NEW LOCATION)
David Schnell, curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto
From September 21 to November 11, 2022
Via Olmetto 1, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Wednesday, September 21, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Firenze
Gio’ Pomodoro, critical text by Sergio Risaliti
From September 16 to December 23, 2022
NOVO Firenze
The Dream of Reason - Daria Dmytrenko, curated by Edoardo Monti
From September 16 to November 19, 2022
Piazza Goldoni 2, Florence, Italy / +39 055 661356 / firenze@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Friday, September 16, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
www.eduardosecci.com / gallery@eduardosecci.com
IG @eduardoseccigallery / FB @eduardoseccicontemporary
www.novo.ooo / hello@novo.ooo
IG @novo_projects / FB @NOVOprojects
Exhibition walkthroughs videos with artists and curators:
www.eduardosecci.com/exhibitions - www.novo.ooo/exhibitions
Press Office: THE KNACK STUDIO / Tamara Lorenzi
tamara@theknackstudio.com / +39 347 0712934
info@theknackstudio.com / www.theknackstudio.com
