Nicolas CeccaldiLes Chemins de la HonteSeptemberSep 8th - OctoberOct 22nd, 2016Gaga Mexico City

Les Chemins de la Honte is a solo exhibition by artist Nicolas Ceccaldi in which flora and fauna, the two essential elements of the natural world, are the main thematic and structural components of the show. In the same way that wildlife is re-appropriated in this new body of artworks, pre-manufactured paintings such as the ones sold at Pier 1mport have also entered the production of this exhibition and is one of its manifest characteristics.

The artist’s gaze, directed at the regenerative properties of Mother Nature, is impregnated with the heritage of artistic currents which throughout history have drawn inspiration from plants and trees. Like the stalk of a vine tree, this tradition ramifies in innumerable tendencies, one of which found its way through the cracks of culture to blossom across the walls of waiting rooms, hospitals, funeral homes, or hotel rooms.

The anonymity of these places is a normal situation for the frustrated animal who lives in constant fear of starvation and of its predators, and who will find comfort and escapism in such depictions of natural spaces. These windows open onto a path, the path to extinction lying across Arcadian landscapes and clearing the space needed in order to desire and meditate on the brutality with which fate will strike upon us.

The call of the wild is depicted in this exhibition as a reactionary tendency against the metropolis, a common reaction exemplified by the development of tourism, the spiritual appeal of rural sites, and the regain of consciousness and empathy for animal life. The artworks on view assume the role of a condensed expression of such affects.

The physical structure of the gallery has also been subjected to architectural interventions on the occasion of Les Chemins de la Honte.