ARTIST PROFILE: MONICA PILONI

objkt

@objktcom · 9 Jun 2024

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My artistic production is linked mainly to one or more of the following aspects: the triggering of some type of response, such as disturbing the sense of pleasure or beauty, inducing a state of fear (even if the presentation is some kind of order, pattern or aesthetic harmony); transmitting a sense of novelty and originality; really challenging tasks at the moment in history when it seems that everything has been done.

Quote from an interview in ArtMarketMag, read the full interview here.

Monica Piloni, Concave & Complex, 2004.

Fifteenth highlight of our upcoming exhibition 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 & 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗔, 10-16 of June in Basel, Monica Piloni @M0nicaPil0ni is a Brazilian artist based in Brussels, Belgium, who uses sculpture to distort the body, creating another dimension that is both attractive and repulsive.

When looking at her work as a whole, Piloni's interest in the representation of the female figure becomes noticeable, which began as a result of using her own body as a living model.

The self-portrait that at first came about for convenience, over time symbolically became a portrait of all women because what she was expressing was a kind of collective narrative and, in fact, art is the great promoter of social change.

Monica PIloni, Siamesa a da série Retratos 2016.

Most of her works have a common feature in their construction, mirroring. This resource distorts the body, creating another dimension in the perception of the human figure, making it as attractive as it is repulsive.

Monica Piloni, A Leitora, 2019

She uses several languages, but mainly sculpture, whether physical, virtual, photographed, animated, mounted on a base or installation, in different materials such as bronze, marble, ceramics, fiberglass, and PETG, among others.

In her quest to reconceive the human, these predominantly female figures display the unconventional anatomy of their naked bodies as a peaceful protest to indicate a path towards the emergence of a post-human feminist turn that rejects the idea of the universalist posture of our species as the supposed measure of all things, criticizes the notion of human exceptionality, and the hierarchy of species.

The reflective or rotational symmetry used as an aesthetic resource in constructing these works creates new versions of bodies that break with the biological constitution and with the bilateral structure of human beings, making them non-functional.

Monica Piloni, Selfie 2022.

Despite being built exclusively with human parts, they can refer to creatures such as demons, mythological characters, or extraterrestrial beings, representing the ability to manifest through different identities and to change perspectives with fluidity.

Monica Piloni, Casal (Couple), 2005

Among her solo shows in Brazil, stand out “Dissident Symmetries”, Contemporary Museum Sorocaba (2022), "Humans, All Too Human", Zipper Gallery, São Paulo (2022), "Ciclo", Zipper Gallery, São Paulo (2019) and the urban intervention “Ilegais”, at Rua da Aurora, Recife (2014). She participated in group shows in Brazil such as "Diversidade do Nosso Tempo", Figueiredo Ferraz Institute, Ribeirão Preto (2017), TRIO Bienal, National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA), Rio de Janeiro (2015), "Demasiado Pasolini", Mário de Andrade Library, São Paulo (2015), "New Brazilian Sculpture", Caixa Cultural, Rio de Janeiro (2011), "O Colecionador de Sonhos", Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz, Ribeirão Preto (2011), among others.

Her works appear in important public and private Brazilian collections such as MAC Niterói, Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz, Cleusa Garfinkel and Bernardo Paz.

Monica Piloni, Ballerina (Bailarina) 2007

More info

Follow the artist on OBJKT, Twitter and Instagram.

Visit her website.

Read this interview.

Watch this video interview.

Last week we hosted our first Twitter space introducing the exhibition. The recording is available! Don't hesitate to listen to it!

See you in Basel!