Nidhal Chamekh

Curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto

NOVO - Eduardo Secci Firenze

Florence, from January 29 to March 12, 2022

Opening: Saturday, January 29, 4:00 - 8:00 pm

Exhibition walkthrough video available online

Exhibition view, Nidhal Chamekh, 2022, NOVO - Eduardo Secci Firenze, Photo Daniele Molajoli, Courtesy the artist and NOVO - Eduardo Secci, Florence, Milan

In Florence, from January 29 to March 12, 2022, NOVO is pleased to present the solo show of Nidhal Chamekh curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto.

For this occasion, the Tunisian artist - able to range from classic drawing to the digital media of video and photography -, proposes works on paper of different sizes.

The choice of works is limited to the essential: two in large format exhibited through an installation besides another series on display in the adjacent room. Concise and synthetic, the exhibition effectively expresses a reconstruction of events intertwined with an intimate and, at times, autobiographical narration.

Within each drawing, many elements and subjects interact, forming complex systems that situate Chamekh's practice between the biographical and the political, contemporary history and the current affairs, the events and the archiving of these.

In doing so, the artist occupies a dimension suspended between collective and individual memory, raising the question about the construction of identity in contemporary society and its formation processes.

The exhibition walkthrough video with the artist is online at www.novo.ooo/exhibitions.

Curatorial Essay by Pier Paolo Pancotto

Nidhal Chamekh (1985), graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Tunis, arrived in Paris in 2008 to complete his academic studies with a master's and doctorate at La Sorbonne. He is currently a pensionnaire of the Académie de France in Rome - Villa Medici. Whether in Tunis, in Paris - the two cities where he alternately stays - or in Rome, Chamekh seeks his reflection on the concepts of cultural and social identity, of nationalism and post-colonialism and the meanings that they express, yesterday and today. For this purpose, he draws on an articulated as well as vast iconographic and iconological repertoire where references to current events blend with historical evocations often related to his own context of origin, Tunisia, which he raises to a universal prototype to investigate myths, utopias and contradictions in the ancient and modern world. This repertoire alternates images of the past, taken from documents of the period in question, with other contemporary ones, generated both by collective news and by individual daily life. Their whole, decontextualized from its sphere of belonging, is thus emptied of its original meaning, as if to echo an attitude now widespread in the era of communication and globalized economy, assuming another one, open to various interpretations. Indeed, divided between the anthropological need for mythical narratives (past and present history, especially that of his birthplace) and the disruptive forces of contemporary aesthetic codes, Chamekh develops a hypertextual language, capable of questioning the relationship between traditional artistic means and those deriving from digital systems. The result is a lexicon where images and texts - from archive or recent, published in traditional form or disseminated on the net - alternate seamlessly, giving rise to a visual patchwork to be read in a circular manner, that is, without the indication of a precise starting or stopping point. This fluidity reflects the exploration of the theme of identity and the boundary between what is true and its simulation that the artist, with equal freedom, has been carrying out for some time. Thus, through drawing, installation, collage, sculpture and video, he gives life to an unprecedented visual catalog trough which if it is not possible to assimilate, at least to decipher reality in all its possible semantic nuances and linguistics, including the randomness and ambiguity that govern it. In this way he manages to deal with contemporaneity without giving in to the news and to cast a glance on the world around him, making himself a witness through his own specific skills, namely creativity. Thus, through drawing, installation, collage, sculpture, video he gives life to an unprecedented visual catalog by means of which it is possible if not assimilate at least groped to decipher reality in all its possible semantic nuances and linguistics, including the randomness and ambiguity that govern it. In this way he manages to deal with contemporaneity without giving in to the news and to cast a glance on the world around him, making himself a witness through his own specific skills, namely creativity.

The works chosen for his personal debut in Florence are proof of this. It is a series of large and small-sized drawing tests. The first ones, belonging to the Exil cycle (2019), are proposed on a three-dimensional structure specially designed for the gallery spaces in line with the installation character that recurs in many of the artist's projects. They are large papers on which Chamekh intervenes with graphite and ink giving body to a graphic schedule where each representation, while maintaining its own autonomy, becomes part of a compositional network that articulates, exponentially expanding, its semantic and perceptive value.

The smaller works belong to the Le battement des ailes cycle (2019) and, besides the measures, they share with the preceding material, technique and dating as well as the narrative structure. They too are centered on drawing, an expressive form that plays a central role in the artist's creative path. Also in this case, on the white surface of the sheet a sequence of images are recomposed, juxtaposed, superimposed, aligned, sometimes with a regular gait like that of a cinematographic montage, which, in their own way, account for the comparison that the artist cultivates with the great social issues of one's own time and of the past, underlining their perennial relevance.

Exhibition view, Nidhal Chamekh, 2022, NOVO - Eduardo Secci Firenze, Photo Daniele Molajoli, Courtesy the artist and NOVO - Eduardo Secci, Florence, Milan

Nidhal Chamekh (1985, Dahmani, Tunisia) lives and works in Tunis and Paris. He graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Tunis and the Sorbonne University in Paris. His works have been exhibited in numerous international shows: Comme un parfum d’aventure, MAC Lyon (2020); Rencontres de Bamako (2019); HybrID, Kunsthaus Hamburg (2019); Diaspora at Home, CCA, Lagos (2019); Biennale d’Architecture d’Orléans (2019); Dream City Biennale, Tunis (2019, 2017); Contemporary Art Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil, São Paulo (2019); The Armory Show, New York (2019); #Villamedicimylove, Villa Medici - French Academy in Rome (2019); Memory Matters, Skissernas Museum, Lund (2018); Biennale di Venezia (2015); Biennale de Dakar (2014); Biennale de Lyon (2013), among others.

Currently, Nidhal Chamekh is an artist in residence at Villa Medici - French Academy in Rome.

Pier Paolo Pancotto is curator of La Fondazione in Rome and of the Art Club exhibition program of Villa Medici - French Academy in Rome.

NOVO is the new independent experimental space of Eduardo Secci. It was born out in 2021 of the necessity for a dialogue between art and the languages of new contemporary. NOVO functions as an incubator of ideas encouraging the work of young artists and their future developments.

Eduardo Secci is an Italian gallery founded in 2013 in Florence with a second location in Milan from June 2021. Both spaces present a double program featuring the exhibitions of the main gallery and NOVO, its new independent experimental space.

NOVO Firenze

Nidhal Chamekh

Curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto

From January 29 to March 12, 2022

Eduardo Secci Firenze

Upon a Time - Bea Bonafini, Daria Dmytrenko, Carla Giaccio Darias, Sahara Longe, Sophie Spedding

Curated by Edoardo Monti

From January 29 to March 12, 2022

Opening: Saturday, January 29, 4:00 - 8:00 pm

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

Eduardo Secci Milano

Vibrato - Stanley Casselman

Curated by David Anfam

From December 9 to March 18, 2022 (EXTENDED)

Unmatter - Joshua Hagler, Luisa Rabbia, Maja Ruznic

Curated by Alberto Fiz

From April 28 to September 16, 2022 (NEW DATES, POSTPONED)

NOVO Milano

Bright Beneath - Kristian Touborg

From December 9 to March 18, 2022 (EXTENDED)

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

www.novo.ooo / hello@novo.ooo / IG @novo_projects / FB @NOVOprojects

www.eduardosecci.com / gallery@eduardosecci.com / IG @eduardoseccigallery / FB @eduardoseccicontemporary

Exhibition walkthroughs videos with artists and curators: www.novo.ooo/it/exhibitions - www.eduardosecci.com/it/exhibitions

Press Office: THE KNACK STUDIO / Tamara Lorenzi

tamara@theknackstudio.com / +39 347 0712934

info@theknackstudio.com / www.theknackstudio.com

Nidhal Chamekh

Curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto

NOVO - Eduardo Secci Firenze

Florence, from January 29 to March 12, 2022

Opening: Saturday, January 29, 4:00 - 8:00 pm

Exhibition walkthrough video available online

Exhibition view, Nidhal Chamekh, 2022, NOVO - Eduardo Secci Firenze, Photo Daniele Molajoli, Courtesy the artist and NOVO - Eduardo Secci, Florence, Milan

In Florence, from January 29 to March 12, 2022, NOVO is pleased to present the solo show of Nidhal Chamekh curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto.

For this occasion, the Tunisian artist - able to range from classic drawing to the digital media of video and photography -, proposes works on paper of different sizes.

The choice of works is limited to the essential: two in large format exhibited through an installation besides another series on display in the adjacent room. Concise and synthetic, the exhibition effectively expresses a reconstruction of events intertwined with an intimate and, at times, autobiographical narration.

Within each drawing, many elements and subjects interact, forming complex systems that situate Chamekh's practice between the biographical and the political, contemporary history and the current affairs, the events and the archiving of these.

In doing so, the artist occupies a dimension suspended between collective and individual memory, raising the question about the construction of identity in contemporary society and its formation processes.

The exhibition walkthrough video with the artist is online at www.novo.ooo/exhibitions.

Curatorial Essay by Pier Paolo Pancotto

Nidhal Chamekh (1985), graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Tunis, arrived in Paris in 2008 to complete his academic studies with a master's and doctorate at La Sorbonne. He is currently a pensionnaire of the Académie de France in Rome - Villa Medici. Whether in Tunis, in Paris - the two cities where he alternately stays - or in Rome, Chamekh seeks his reflection on the concepts of cultural and social identity, of nationalism and post-colonialism and the meanings that they express, yesterday and today. For this purpose, he draws on an articulated as well as vast iconographic and iconological repertoire where references to current events blend with historical evocations often related to his own context of origin, Tunisia, which he raises to a universal prototype to investigate myths, utopias and contradictions in the ancient and modern world. This repertoire alternates images of the past, taken from documents of the period in question, with other contemporary ones, generated both by collective news and by individual daily life. Their whole, decontextualized from its sphere of belonging, is thus emptied of its original meaning, as if to echo an attitude now widespread in the era of communication and globalized economy, assuming another one, open to various interpretations. Indeed, divided between the anthropological need for mythical narratives (past and present history, especially that of his birthplace) and the disruptive forces of contemporary aesthetic codes, Chamekh develops a hypertextual language, capable of questioning the relationship between traditional artistic means and those deriving from digital systems. The result is a lexicon where images and texts - from archive or recent, published in traditional form or disseminated on the net - alternate seamlessly, giving rise to a visual patchwork to be read in a circular manner, that is, without the indication of a precise starting or stopping point. This fluidity reflects the exploration of the theme of identity and the boundary between what is true and its simulation that the artist, with equal freedom, has been carrying out for some time. Thus, through drawing, installation, collage, sculpture and video, he gives life to an unprecedented visual catalog trough which if it is not possible to assimilate, at least to decipher reality in all its possible semantic nuances and linguistics, including the randomness and ambiguity that govern it. In this way he manages to deal with contemporaneity without giving in to the news and to cast a glance on the world around him, making himself a witness through his own specific skills, namely creativity. Thus, through drawing, installation, collage, sculpture, video he gives life to an unprecedented visual catalog by means of which it is possible if not assimilate at least groped to decipher reality in all its possible semantic nuances and linguistics, including the randomness and ambiguity that govern it. In this way he manages to deal with contemporaneity without giving in to the news and to cast a glance on the world around him, making himself a witness through his own specific skills, namely creativity.

The works chosen for his personal debut in Florence are proof of this. It is a series of large and small-sized drawing tests. The first ones, belonging to the Exil cycle (2019), are proposed on a three-dimensional structure specially designed for the gallery spaces in line with the installation character that recurs in many of the artist's projects. They are large papers on which Chamekh intervenes with graphite and ink giving body to a graphic schedule where each representation, while maintaining its own autonomy, becomes part of a compositional network that articulates, exponentially expanding, its semantic and perceptive value.

The smaller works belong to the Le battement des ailes cycle (2019) and, besides the measures, they share with the preceding material, technique and dating as well as the narrative structure. They too are centered on drawing, an expressive form that plays a central role in the artist's creative path. Also in this case, on the white surface of the sheet a sequence of images are recomposed, juxtaposed, superimposed, aligned, sometimes with a regular gait like that of a cinematographic montage, which, in their own way, account for the comparison that the artist cultivates with the great social issues of one's own time and of the past, underlining their perennial relevance.

Exhibition view, Nidhal Chamekh, 2022, NOVO - Eduardo Secci Firenze, Photo Daniele Molajoli, Courtesy the artist and NOVO - Eduardo Secci, Florence, Milan

Nidhal Chamekh, Les battement des ailes C, 2017, graphite powder, ink and transfer on cotton, 100 x 140 cm, Courtesy the artist

Nidhal Chamekh (1985, Dahmani, Tunisia) lives and works in Tunis and Paris. He graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Tunis and the Sorbonne University in Paris. His works have been exhibited in numerous international shows: Comme un parfum d’aventure, MAC Lyon (2020); Rencontres de Bamako (2019); HybrID, Kunsthaus Hamburg (2019); Diaspora at Home, CCA, Lagos (2019); Biennale d’Architecture d’Orléans (2019); Dream City Biennale, Tunis (2019, 2017); Contemporary Art Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil, São Paulo (2019); The Armory Show, New York (2019); #Villamedicimylove, Villa Medici - French Academy in Rome (2019); Memory Matters, Skissernas Museum, Lund (2018); Biennale di Venezia (2015); Biennale de Dakar (2014); Biennale de Lyon (2013), among others.

Currently, Nidhal Chamekh is an artist in residence at Villa Medici - French Academy in Rome.

Pier Paolo Pancotto is curator of La Fondazione in Rome and of the Art Club exhibition program of Villa Medici - French Academy in Rome.

NOVO is the new independent experimental space of Eduardo Secci. It was born out in 2021 of the necessity for a dialogue between art and the languages of new contemporary. NOVO functions as an incubator of ideas encouraging the work of young artists and their future developments.

Eduardo Secci is an Italian gallery founded in 2013 in Florence with a second location in Milan from June 2021. Both spaces present a double program featuring the exhibitions of the main gallery and NOVO, its new independent experimental space.

NOVO Firenze

Nidhal Chamekh

Curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto

From January 29 to March 12, 2022

Eduardo Secci Firenze

Upon a Time - Bea Bonafini, Daria Dmytrenko, Carla Giaccio Darias, Sahara Longe, Sophie Spedding

Curated by Edoardo Monti

From January 29 to March 12, 2022

Opening: Saturday, January 29, 4:00 - 8:00 pm

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

Eduardo Secci Milano

Vibrato - Stanley Casselman

Curated by David Anfam

From December 9 to March 18, 2022 (EXTENDED)

Unmatter - Joshua Hagler, Luisa Rabbia, Maja Ruznic

Curated by Alberto Fiz

From April 28 to September 16, 2022 (NEW DATES, POSTPONED)

NOVO Milano

Bright Beneath - Kristian Touborg

From December 9 to March 18, 2022 (EXTENDED)

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

www.novo.ooo / hello@novo.ooo / IG @novo_projects / FB @NOVOprojects

www.eduardosecci.com / gallery@eduardosecci.com / IG @eduardoseccigallery / FB @eduardoseccicontemporary

Exhibition walkthroughs videos with artists and curators: www.novo.ooo/it/exhibitions - www.eduardosecci.com/it/exhibitions

Press Office: THE KNACK STUDIO / Tamara Lorenzi

tamara@theknackstudio.com / +39 347 0712934

info@theknackstudio.com / www.theknackstudio.com