Paolo Chiasera: Frankenstein

The Italian artist (born in 1978 in Bologna, Italy and based in Berlin, Germany) works with painting, video, performance and installation, inquiring into historical images, myths and rituals. Paolo Chiasera’s work takes history as a starting point for a process of creative deconstruction and reconstruction, sourcing material from film, literature and philosophy as a way to reconstitute narratives and engage collective memories from the viewer.

Taking inspiration from the 54 selected artists participating in Berlin Gallery Weekend, the artist has fused together motifs from the practices of different artists and generated mutant paintings. Using a technique of cast and mono-print on plaster mounted on canvas, he also conflates and adds the initials of the respective artists to the lower, righthand side of each canvas. So do Roni Horn and Bernd Lohaus become HL, while Rebecca Morris and Robert Kuśmirowski become MK, so on and so forth. Paradox and contradiction deliberately dogs Chiasera at every turn of the project.