Ludovica Gioscia’s installations and sculptures explore the rich layering of cultural debris within our cities and speak of a journey of scripted spaces through history including the way in which the digital revolution shapes our way of being.
Her work draws heavily from the Baroque in Rome, where she grew up, the significance of alchemy in studio practice, and her large archive of wallpapers containing motifs that stem from her mother’s DIY science lab, psychedelic explosions, telepathic brains, vintage jewellery auction catalogues, Paninaro patterns, Pasolini actors, Baroque interiors, ancient Roman ruins and the Rosetta Stone.
Since 2006, Gioscia has been creating large-scale site-specific wall-based installations, under the series title ‘Giant Decollage’, in which layered hand screen printed and commercial wallpaper are installed and then ripped back to reveal the strata underneath. The ‘Debris’ series, grew out of these, created by layering detritus accumulated whilst de-installing the installations.
Adopting a new modus operandi in 2016, which she titled the ‘Infinite Present’, Gioscia’s practice has significantly evolved, reflecting the new temporalities that have emerged with the digital revolution, in particular the scrambling of the linear. This has led to a studio practice that is constantly being reconsidered and renegotiated in which the past, present and future infinitely coexist. Ludovica describes her studio as having become a magical location in which artworks from the future and from other dimensions appear, and past creations are de-assembled and reconsidered.
Gioscia sees artworks as being alive, hence constantly evolving. Infused with a sort of animism, the creations stem from a deep enjoyment of working with materials. Fragments from previous installations and tools used to produce artworks, such as screen printing ink, gloves, brushes, sheets of protective plastic, make their way into her assemblages together with found objects, ‘Debris’, and other fabricated works in ceramic, wood, resin, Papier-mâché, and fabric.
Ludovica Gioscia (born 1977, Rome) lives and works in London. She graduated with an MFA Fine Art Media from the Slade School of Art in 2004 and has been exhibiting internationally since, at galleries and institutions including: La Fabbrica del Cioccolato, Blenio, CH; Creative Centre Osaka, Osaka, JP; Palazzo da Mosto, Fondazione Palazzo Magnani, Reggio Emilia, IT; MACRO, Rome, IT; Palazzo Fiano, Rome, IT; FuturDome, Milan, IT; The Warhol Foundation, Pittsburgh, US; Baert Gallery, Los Angeles, US; Salon 94, The Flag Art Foundation, Allegra LaViola, NY, US; The Miro’ Foundation, Barcelona, ES; Jerwood Space, London, UK; South London Gallery, London, UK; MNAC, Bucharest, RO; and Comfort Moderne, Poitiers, FR.
In 2015 Gioscia presented a specially commissioned and semi-permanent site-specific installation at Maraya Art Park in Sharjah and another site-specific installation at OFF Biennale Cairo. She has collaborated on a Falabella limited edition for Stella McCartney (2012), with Sergio Zambon for Galitzine (2013), and as part of Absolut Blank’s campaign (2011). Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Fluor, Exibart, Exit Express, Flash Art International, Kunstforum, Etapes International, Elephant, The End and AN. Gioscia was selected for the third edition of the Launch Pad LaB Residency 2019.
Gioscia has recently been commissioned by Museo della Figurina which is part of Fondazione Modena Art Visivie, Modena, IT, to create a site-specific installation for the exhibition ‘POP THERAPY. Lo spirito rivoluzionario delle figurine Fiorucci’ on until 15 September 2019. Her work has been included in the the new publication ‘100 Sculptors of Tomorrow’, published on 3 September 2019 by Thames and Hudson. Forthcoming exhibitions include the artist’s second solo show at Baert Gallery in Los Angeles (2020), VITRINE will present Gioscia’s first solo exhibition in Switzerland (September 2019) and ‘Women to Watch 2020: Paper Work’ at Sotheby’s, London (September 2019).