Curator Paola Gallio and the artists Jared Deery, JJ Manford, and Elisa Soliven, are proud to announce the launch of Tappeto Volante—aka TVprojects—at 126 13th St. in Gowanus, Brooklyn, with its inaugural show, Everyone stands alone at the heart of the Earth, an exhibition of works on paper by Chilean artist Vicente Matte, opening on Sunday, May 23, 2021, 12 ‒ 8 pm.

JJ Manford has selected the works in this exhibition, which is Vicente Matte’s debut solo show in New York City. With casein washes in deep, saturated hues, bold blacks, and chromatic grays, Vicente creates a seductive surface that draws the viewer in. While the paintings initially appear to observe the expected conventions of weight, balance, symmetry, rhythm, movement, and direction, closer study reveals inherent figuration that seems to enact a mythic or sacred narrative that is both poetic and evocative. Though vibrant, these delightfully illogical spirits are also ephemeral, dissolving as immaterially as a dream, abetting the harmony of the meta image. If poetry could be manifested as an image, says JJ Manford, it might resemble Vicente’s works.

“Everyone stands alone at the heart of the Earth” is a line from a poem by the Italian hermetic poet Salvatore Quasimodo, and refers to the apocalyptic solitude at the end of our life’s transient journey. This profound recognition is intensely present in the metaphysical space portrayed in Vicente’s work. According to Vicente, with these works he seeks to “reach a new, foreign place, turning you into a foreigner to yourself. These paintings…are full of unelaborate ideas, glimpses, and unforeseen explorations: strange places, paths that had not been taken, then-lost chances.”

Everyone stands alone at the heart of the Earth is on view until July 22, 2021.

About the Artist

Born in 1987 in Santiago de Chile, Vicente Matte studied fine arts at Finis Terrae University in Santiago from 2007 to 2011. In 2014 he traveled to Germany to study at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg. His work has been exhibited in Chile, Buenos Aires, London, New York, and Copenhagen. He currently lives and works in Santiago, Chile.