Amalia Pica’s two-part exhibition will begin with recently made works that respond to the artist’s 2014 residency at the Gashaka Gumti National Park in the rainforest of Nigeria. Pica’s practice often explores communication, misunderstanding, translation and listening. This trajectory takes on a new subject through her experience observing the lives of chimpanzees in Nigeria. Pica’s fascination with the tools created by chimps, their aptitude for communication, and complex social structures have formed the basis of two video works produced with the filmmaker Rafael Ortega, and a recent sculpture that will be presented alongside.
The second chapter of the exhibition will feature newly commissioned works, supported by the Keir Foundation, developed by Pica on a residency at Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Colorado, USA, this year, where the artist is deepening her understanding of inter-species communication. Pica is working with leading primatologists to expand her knowledge of Chimpanzee language capacities and what meaning might be shared between humans and their distant relatives.
Biography
Argentinian artist Amalia Pica lives and works in London, UK. Recent exhibitions include At an Arm’s Length, NC Arte, Bogotá (2017); Katachrese, Kunstverein Freiburg (2016); The Eighth Climate, 11th Gwangju Biennale (2016); A ∩ B ∩ C (line), Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2014); A ∩ B ∩ C, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2013); Amalia Pica, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2013); For Shower Singers, Modern Art Oxford (2012); ILLUMInations, 54thVenice Biennale (2011).
The project has been developed in partnership with The Power Plant, Toronto, and Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, with the generous support of the Keir Foundation.
Image: Amalia Pica, Taller / Workshop, 2017. Tools made by chimpanzees out of forest wood to extract food such as honey or insects, felt pen, nails. Dimensions variable.
