Of Massimo, holding things

December 18th, 2008

To post about the exhibition currently up right now of the beautiful work of Massimo Guerrera at the Joyce Yahouda is not an easy task. Guerrera, a relatively young and spritely artists born in good old Roma in 1967 is one of Quèbec’s most lauded artists and has been for some years. He is also one not to be pinned down as he zips around (well, I don’t know if he zips, call it an intuition) etching, drawing, sculpting and performing in equal parts. He is one giant recipe for a multi-tiered art-cake with all of the ingredients at the ready in his sleeves.

He was trained at Atelier Graff, (which truly deserves its own write-up), and his etching background shines through in the Yahouda show, Partager Les Outils d’Affection, up until the 17th of January.

Guerrera is partially difficult to write about because of the way in which his many mediums compliment and contrast each other. His sculpture, photography (documentation of his non-performances) and illustrations inhabit spaces in unison, breathing together in some sort of rhythm reminiscent of family relations. Verbally interacting with his work is akin to being asked to write an essay on someone else’s trip home to mom, pop and extendo-mix-siblings for a week. You almost wouldn’t dare, and you might not want to show them the final results.

Difficulties aside, this exhibition is quite an experience and a precious one at that, (and not in the my-little-porcelain-dolly kind of a way at all) as to see Guerrera work in multiple forms and functions is not only to see his flexibility as an artist but to also witness how he carries beauty with him like a tincture in his pocket.

It also serves as a reminded of the traces we leaves behind or weave into the things we do, regardless of what medium we work/sing/hum/play/yelp in.

And that I call the man art-cake is especially apt considering that what weaves and binds his practice together, from the performative and sculptural to the bits-on-paper, is his grapple with the constant subject of food as a place/substance where bodies/rituals/identities meet and collide. I could go on about that one for well, masters degrees, PhDs, post-docs and more, but let’s just say there’s enough “meat” there (pardon the pun) for a lifetime’s worth of amazing art. Thankfully.