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PACIFICO SILANO

Don'Worry Baby

After exhibiting in 2020 in the gallery opening exhibition Out of the Folds, the artist now presents a new body of ten works which start a new direction in his survey. This new series, entirely made for the show, revolves around the balance between softness and aggression – as the artists sais – , a balance that is underlined by the contrast between the use of quiet colors and darker tones.

Riproduci video

Using vintage gay publications that span the post Stonewall Riots through the height of the AIDS crisis, I omit the overt sexual content of erotic centerfolds, instead focusing on the small details of these images that I collage and appropriate. The landscape, featured prominently in my work acts as a silent witness to the bodies that once occupied these queer spaces. They are stand-in memorials for not just the models cropped on the pages but for those who originally consumed their imagery. I have created softer, intimate and more vulnerable representations of men that challenge our ideas around masculinity. It’s allowed me a way to see my own identity as a gay man through their likeness. This way of working has had multiple threads of exploration over the years. Initially starting out as an archival document the work has progressed conceptually to creating large scale photo based installations. These methods of inquiry have given me the language and understanding of how these images can function.

Pacifico Silano

 

Morning Ritual, 2021
Archival Pigment Print
Edition 1/3 + 1 AP
Cm 101,6 x127 each

Fade Into You, 2021
Archival Pigment Print
Edition 1/3 + 1 AP
Cm 81,28 x 101,6

Feeling Old Feelings, 2021
Archival Pigment Print and Photo Tex
Edition 1/1 + 1 AP
Cm 99,6 x 127

As in the whole Silano’s practice, the works are created using images from old gay erotica magazines, selecting, cutting and overlapping images to create new narratives, where nothing is expicit, like sexual acts or nudity. The sexuality of the subjects is only evoked by a detail of a body, an expression or a movement of a hand. Every work is marked by a strong sense of intimacy. In Morning Ritual, for example, there is a man caught in a private moment: he’s naked in his bathroom, shaving, grabbing a green soft towel, a simple gesture that every man does, Nevertheless, despite this trivial action of the everyday life, this image reveals a subtle but deep sensuality, enhanced by the mirror on the left which seems on the verge of disclosing something more private.

Blue as the Ocean, 2021
Archival Pigment Print with Photo Tex
Edition 1/1 + 1 AP
Cm 97,79 x 50,8

Roadside Romance, 2021
Archival Pigment Print with Photo Tex
Edition 1/1 + 1 AP
Cm 132 x 50,8

Tell Me Your Mine, 2021
Archival Pigment Print
Edition 1/3+ 1 AP
Cm 40×50,8

Sharp Dressed Man, 2021
Archival Pigment Print
Edition 1/3+ 1 AP
Cm 40×50,8

Saturday Night In, 2021
Archival Pigment Print
Edition 2/3+ 1 AP
Cm 40×50,8

If in Morning Ritual sensuality is slightly revealed, in the diptych Leather Man is more obvious. The dark tones highlight the masculinity of the bodies: on the left, only a black leather belt dresses the naked white skin of someone’s back. Especially in the second image, the masculinity is even stronger and is suggested by the dark leather clothes, like the belt and the jacket, which intensify a perception of violence.
Violence is a fundamental aspect in Pacifico Silano‘s new series. Through these images, he investigates the violence that exists under the surface of the images and speaks to the current moment – as Silano declares.

The Leatherman, 2021
Archival Pigment Print
Edition 1/3+ 1 AP
Cm 40×50,8 each

Body Talk, 2021
Archival Pigment Print
Edition 1/3+ 1 AP
Cm 40×50,8 and 30,48×40,64

Pacifico Silano (Brooklyn, NY, 1986) is a lens-based artist whose work is an exploration of print culture, the circulation of imagery and LGBTQ identity. Born in Brooklyn, NY, he received his MFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts.
His work has been exhibited in several shows, including at Warhol Museum, the Houston Center fot Photography, the Bronx Museum; Tacoma Art Museum; Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City and The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Reviews of his work have appeared in The New Yorker, Artforum and The Washington Post. Awards include the Aaron Siskind Foundation Fellowship, NYFA Fellowship in Photography,
being a Finalist for the Aperture Foundation Portfolio Prize and being shortlisted for the Paris Photo/Aperture First Book Prize.
His work is in the Permanent Collection of The Museum of Modern Art.

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