title: Give me the name of an artist. (Giorgio De Chirico)
artist: Sean Gall
curated by: Camilla Boemio with AAC Platform
materials: paper.
dimensions: 55x40 cm / 21.5x16 in
location: Roma - Italy
Sean Gall's “Give Me the Name of an Artist” series is an ongoing project that is sociological research into the perception of what constitutes an “artist”. A wide range of people with varying knowledge of art or art history have been invited to participate.”
Gall asks people to give him the name of an artist they first think of. Giorgio De Chirico was given by artist Giancarlo Savino.
Living in Rome for the artist means to assimilate the culture of the nation; in this relationship with
Savino and De Chirico, there is a majestic baggage of the history of art. Giancarlo Savino was the protagonist of the theory of open studies. His art reflects on society and the sentiment of contemporary time through works that are characterized by the strong expression of the human presence. Giorgio de Chirico with his Metaphysical Painting and its mysterious squares have laid the foundations for Surrealism. A sort of introduction of intellectual binding that art built. Gall added Che Bello since we all need more beauty in these difficult times.
In his current series Gall approaches the surface by drawing obsessively-detailed, expressive
shapes, and text that is either implicitly or explicitly political. The text is then abstracted to obscure
the meaning or left bold for emphasis. Gall also makes patterned line drawings which begin with a
failed attempt to draw a straight line. This failed attempt is repeated and each slight variation
continues until the end of the canvas or paper. The repetitive process refers to the interactive
relationship between the mountain range and urban sprawl of present or past cities the artist lived
in. Another reference are the early 80s drawings by Peter Saville made for Joy Division's album
Unknown Pleasure Gall's drawings give a nod to his historical art influences: Cy Twombly, Mark Bradford, Julie Mehrutu and Sol Lewitt.
Sean Gall is a Californian artist who is based in Rome. Gall holds an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, (CalArts) Valencia, California and his BFA in Drawing & Painting / Intermedia from California State University Long Beach, California.
He’s the recipient of the 2007 Armory Center for the Arts Teaching Fellowship in
Pasadena, California. Gall has exhibited at Project 210 Gallery, Pasadena California; California Institute of the Arts; Studio Lisboa 018, Portugal; DotSandPlastic, Madrid; Galleria Palazzo Velli, Rome; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Hermon La Prada’s International Flat Files, Los Angeles; Dan Graham Gallery, Los Angeles; Mastodon Mesa, Los Angeles; among others. Follow him on Instagram: @seangall_studio
His current work is a series of mixed media drawings/paintings using ink and acrylic on canvas and paper. The works are abstracted landscapes and mindscapes. The surface is approached with one horizontal line drawn across the entire canvas.He then follows this element over and over again across the picture plane. Slight variations in the movement of my hand add to the pattern as each additional line is recorded. The repetitive process refers to the interactive relationship between mountain ranges and urban sprawl as well as the influence of early eighties drawings by Peter Saville. The works begin with a failed attempt to draw a straight line, then this failed attempt is followed until the end of the canvas or paper.
More on Camilla Boemio's practice
Camilla Boemio is a writer, curator, university consultant and theorist whose practice deals with
investigating the politics of participation in curatorial practices, the intersection of culture and
contemporary aesthetics. She is a member of AICA (International Association of Arts Critics). She
co-founded with Fabrizio Orsini the experimental nomadic non-profit AAC Platform; in many
years of research they expanded several collaborations in California and in Great Britain.
Her work, also with AAC Platform, focuses on interdisciplinary systems from an intersectional
feminist perspective, with a focus on the social systems and other ecologies. Her recent curatorial
projects include the exhibition Jérôme Chazeix: The coat of hipness (materiali velati) part
Altaroma2020 agenda at Label201 (2020); the Arts Council England project in which support the Marina Moreno’s research (2019-2020), the solo show Marc Trujillo: Fast at AOCF58 – Galleria Bruno Lisi, in Roma (2020). Her book As Brilliant As the Sun was published by Vanilla Edizioni in 2020.
In 2016, she was the curator of Diminished Capacity the first Nigerian Pavilion at the 15th
International Architecture Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia; and in 2013 she was the co-
deputy curator of Portable Nation. Disappearance as work in Progress – Approaches to Ecological
Romanticism the Maldives Pavilion at 55th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia. For more information visit camillaboemio.com. Follow her on Instagram:@camillaboemio
AAC Platform (est. 2007) is an independent, non-profit nomadic gallery in Rome, devoted to the
commissioning and production of new work by local and international artists.