Sweet Memories at MONTI8

Artist: Sweet Memories

Exhibition title: Hanna Brody, Monika Marchewka, Tae Lee, Johan Larnouhet, Florent Groc

Venue: MONTI8, Latina, Italy

Date: January 13 – February 16, 2024

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

It would be good to give much thought, before
you try to find words for something so lost,
for those long childhood afternoons you knew
that vanished so completely —and why?

From Childhood
Reiner Maria Rilke
1902

MONTI8 is delighted to present Sweet Memories, a group show featuring five artists exhibiting at the gallery for the first time: Hanna Brody, Monika Marchewka, Tae Lee, Johan Larnouhet and Florent Groc.

The artists are invited to think about dreams and memories from their childhood.

The exhibition will open on January 13th and will be on view through February 16th.

Hanna Brody (1994, New York, lives and works in New York) focuses on the people of her life. For her, painting is a way to get close to those people, recreating moments they and her have spent together, like in the painting Under Construction that portrays her two best friends from childhood. Brody captures the emotions of those special moments suggesting feelings such as connection, nostalgia, tenderness and intimacy.

For Monika Marchewka (1988, Poland, lives and works in Gdynia – Poland) to paint means narrating a story. She composes mysterious scenes with hidden meanings the viewer must unfold, trying to decode the surreal and enigmatic language she always adopts. The unreal and imaginary world she describes, along with the recurring use of pink as the prevalent color, can recall at childhood dreams.

The work of Tae Lee (Korea, lives and works in Los Angeles) brings the viewer into another dimension, where there is no certain time or space. Using soft and soothing colors – as well as intense – its subjects seem to be part of a fantastic world, like fairy tales or myths, all imbued with a deep sense of peace. The artist incorporates elements from his surroundings that intermingles with his inner self, where animals, human figures and nature are described with the creativity of a child.

In the survey of Johan Larnouhet (1988, Marseille, lives and works and Paris) people and environment have the same importance. A strong palette is combined with the stillness of the human figures, caught in everyday moments in urban landscapes.

“Engalière”, the work featured in this show, is a painting representing the neighborhood where he was born and raised. In his small portraits, Larnouhet underlines this stillness by painting faces that never show any emotion, drawing inspiration from the Flemish artists.

Florent Groc (1987, Marseille, lives and works in Marseille) reflects on the landscapes of his childhood, representing colorful and vivid paths, mountains, lakes, where a wild nature doesn’t allow any man or woman. The artist paints these familiar mountains with warm tones, soft shapes, and lush vegetation, as to convey the same feeling of intimacy to the observer.