Ana Segovia at MONTI8

Artist: Ana Segovia

Exhibition title: Can’t Sleep with the Man Who Dims My Shine

Venue: MONTI8, Latina, Italy

Date: October 9 – December 5, 2021

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and MONTI8

MONTI8 is excited to announce “Can’t Sleep With The Man Who Dims My Shine”, first solo show of Ana Segovia at the gallery.

The exhibition presents a new body of works focused on football. A selection of twelve paintings, goinf from small to large scale works, starts a new chapter in the career of the artist, who puts aside for a while the old subjects, inspired to the golden era of the Mexican movies.

Nevertheless, this new series keeps a strong link with Ana Segovia old works. Her practice, in fact, is always marked by a deep reflection on the themes of sexuality and gender, merged with the symbols of the Mexican culture. For example, in the previous works, she was focused on some characters very common in Mexican movies and Mexican society: the poker player, the bullfighter or the cowboy.

The figures who Ana Segovia has always represented on her canvases, are just elements that the artist uses to explore the role of men in the society, the role of macho. In this new paintings, even if the subjects are totally different from the older ones, she keeps the same interest in how men are considered by society and how they express their power and their authority. For example, in the series of small portraits she depicts famous soccer players, so famous that they have became icons: players like Ronaldinho or Maradona have been – and still are – models for generations of people. Their physical strenght, their fame, their virility, their leadership are all factors that turn them into objects of desire, that every man would like to become. The artist chose to title these works “Portrait of an Anonymous Soccer Player I, (II,III and so on), to underline how, even if there is no name in the caption, these players are so reknowed that we can recognize them only from a few details, like the hair and the colour of their soccer shirt, exactly how we recognize an iconic image by a few symbols.

Sexuality is another fundamental issue in Ana Segovia’s survey. In sports, especially in sports like football, there is a lot of physicality: during a match, all the footballers embrace each other and clash against each other. In these paintings, the artist captures some moments characterized by close body contacts. In works like “It’s a Little Too Rough”, “Your Love is Nothing I Can’t Fight” or “Cus Its a Hard Life with Love in the World”, the figures are caught in goal celebration hugs, where Segovia underlines the erotic side as predominant element of the scene, as the titles suggest. “Can’t Sleep with the Man Who Dims My Shine” is the first solo show of Ana Segovia at the gallery. It will be on view until December 5th.

Ana Segovia, Can’t Sleep with the Man Who Dims My Shine, 2021, exhibition view, MONTI8, Latina

Ana Segovia, I’m a Winner, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 170×130

Ana Segovia, It’s a Little Too Rough, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 72×48,5

Ana Segovia, Cus Its a Hard Life with Love in the World, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 112×72

Ana Segovia, Your Love is Nothing I Can’t Fight, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 72×112

Ana Segovia, Loving Me is Like Chewing on Pearls I, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 200×70

Ana Segovia, Loving Me is Like Chewing on Pearls II, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 200×70

Ana Segovia, Loving Me is Like Chewing on Pearls III, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 200×70

Ana Segovia, Loving Me is Like Chewing on Pearls IV, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 200×70

Ana Segovia, Portrait of Anonymous Soccer Player I, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 30×20

Ana Segovia, Portrait of Anonymous Soccer Player II, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 30×20

Ana Segovia, Portrait of Anonymous Soccer Player III, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 30×20

Ana Segovia, Portrait of Anonymous Soccer Player IV, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 30×20

Ana Segovia, Portrait of Anonymous Soccer Player V, 2021 Oil on linen, cm 30×20