Questioning, discussing, interrogating and challenging are essential elements in the artistic process. Questioning allows us to construct meanings and to critically approach art, culture and our everyday experiences. Cosima von Bonin raises questions and dialogues in her first solo exhibition in Portugal, Boy at Work, at Lumiar Cité.
In the exhibition text, the questions raised by the author Luís Felipe Fabre are endless:
¿Se solicita um chico? ¿Que se solicita um chico? ¿Um chico como yo, cómo tu, como quién? ¿Que se solicita um hombre? ¿Que qué? ¿Que quién solicita um chico para qué|? ¿Para quién? ¿Que quién necessita a quién? ¿Quién o qué? ¿Que chico? ¿Um chico o um hombre o um chico y um hombre o qué? (…)
And they persist. These do not necessarily demand answers, but they are a catalyst for the exhibition experience created by Cosima Von Bonin. Her art evolves between installation and sculpture, making references to art history and using elements of pop culture. Boy at Work fits into a long practice in which the artist uses stuffed toys in scenarios that transform their original meaning.
The exhibition begins precisely with them. The installation Marathon, Que Le Fuck Version (2023) is composed of cartoon stuffed toys, carefully hung on a clothesline. The selection of animated characters includes iconic figures such as Miss Piggy, Piglet or Peppa, immediately identified by the public. The colours, textures, and different versions of the stuffed piggies create a visually captivating environment. Next to the clothesline there is a typical basket for hanging clothes, with even more soft toys. The combination of familiar elements from our everyday life with elements of pop culture in an artistic context immediately challenges the boundaries between high culture and popular culture. On the other hand, they seem to allow a reflection on the relationship between childhood, affective memory and the influence of the media in the construction of individual and collective identities. The experience is completed when we see our image in The Lobster (2023).
On the way to the upper floor of the Lumiar Cité, we find the sculpture Privato (2010), built with white sealing iron, the only work that does not belong to the most recent set. As we climb the stairs to the upper floor, we pass through a yellow door that is part of the structure where Elmo, a character from Sesame Street, used by Von Bonin for the installation The Boy (2023), is. The artist began by referencing Sesame Street outside the gallery, where the exhibition title appears incorporated in the logo of this children’s TV show. The installation we see is composed of an animatronic Elmo, a microphone and a speaker. When we touch Elmo’s foot, its show begins. It is a child’s toy, which, when activated by us, becomes the exhibition’s central figure. Its laughter, dialogues or pleas for affection are amplified by the speaker, echoing a contagious energy throughout the gallery.
Boy at Work incorporates works produced purposely for the exhibition, including canvases with textile materials collected by the artist in Lisbon. Missy Misdemeanor, Work it (2023), Britney, Work Bitch (2023) and Rihanna, Work (2023) are three canvases with collages of fabrics with different colours, textures and patterns. On each one a sentence has been embroidered. Two display “Boy Wanted” and one “Man Wanted”, evoking issues of gender, power and desire. The titles of each work reference pop songs by female artists, adding a new layer of meaning, where the concept of work (also present in the exhibition title) is introduced.
Finally, the installation Mike Kelley is my Goddess (2023), on the gallery floor, features a square fabric that serves as a base for three stuffed piggies placed face to face. The scenario created by Von Bonin again has as its main characters objects associated with the childhood realm and emotional comfort, where the composition suggests a dialogue or confrontation. The title adds meaning once again, by making reference to the artist Mike Kelley, known for his huge installations with stuffed toys.
In Boy at Work, Cosima von Bonin challenges us to explore the intersection between a visually familiar and nostalgic aesthetic with social critique. By questioning, deconstructing and reconstructing meanings, the innocence of childhood blends with the irony of pop culture.
The exhibition runs until July 23, 2023 at Lumiar Cité.
