↳ Exhibitions

Jonathan Monk at Dvir Gallery

June 23, 2017

Artist: Jonathan Monk

Exhibition title: Il cane di Pistoletto

Venue: Dvir Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

Date: May 18 – June 24, 2017

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Dvir Gallery, Brussels

IL CANE DI PISTOLETTO
A site specific photographic exhibition for Dvir Gallery, Brussels.

When seeing Dvir Gallery’s new exhibition space in Brussels I was very surprised to see that the majority of wall space was taken over by 18th century (I’m guessing) plaster moldings that framed every wall. The galleries was gridded and offered little of the minimal details associated with a contemporary art gallery – but I really liked it.

I decided to use the frames as frames to frame a photograph or series of photographs.

But which photograph(s) ?

After a number of attempts I settled on one small black and white photographic portrait of a dog. I’d acquired the photograph some years ago in Rome and have been waiting for the right situation to use it… to walk with it.

I’m not exactly sure what breed the dog is but a hand written text on the reverse of the photograph tells us that the dog was Pistoletto’s – I can only assume the dog’s owner was the Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto.

The photograph was scanned to a very high resolution and then cut and cropped to fit each individual molding or frame… the massive images become almost abstract – a dog dissected to fit… an abstract anatomical study. – Jonathan Monk 2017

Jonathan Monk (Born 1969, UK) adopts the esthetics and practices of 1960s Conceptualism, but infuses the tradition with humor, levity, and autobiographical elements. His work is developped in a multitude of different materials, a formal and conceptual question on artistic identity and the creation of art. Monk still understands his own work as a novel. As he explains, “I always think that art is about ideas, and surely the idea of an original and a copy of an original, are two very different things.”

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto, 2017, installation view, Dvir Gallery, Brussels

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto I, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 281,5 x 252,5 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto II, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 281 x 158,5cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto III, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 278 x 103cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto IV, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 278 x 131,5cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto V, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 278 x 131cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto VI, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 87,5 x 155 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto VII, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 282 x 48,5 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto VIII, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 279,5 x 30 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto IX, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 278 x 43,5 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto X, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 84,5 x 155,5 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto XI, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 279 x 44,5 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto XII, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 83 x 155,5 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto XIII, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 261,5 x 134,3 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto XIV, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 258,5 x 55,5 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto XV, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 256,5 x 26 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto XVI, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 248,5 x 54 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto XVII, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 250,5 x 26,5 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto XVIII, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 253 x 125,3 cm

Jonathan Monk, Il cane di Pistoletto XIX, 2017, inkjet print on Hahnemühle matt fibre paper, mounted on 4mm Alu Dibond, painted artist frame, 253 x 97,5 cm