Nora Turato
Sprüth Magers, Berlin
From September 16th, until November 11th, 2023
Over the past few years, artist Nora Turato has emerged as one of the most interesting names in the contemporary art scene, with a hyper characteristic practice ranging from performance, to video, to graphic design investigating language and incorporating precisely text as the artistic starting point for her work. The exhibition presents a series of new panels glazed in bright colors, with a custom typeface written on them, and site-specific wall paintings that cut through the din and clutter of everyday life and reflect on the familiar aspect of visual culture and the modern zeitgeist. The inspiration for his works comes from film, advertising, literature, conversations, social media captions, and theater; in fact, he uses a collection of words, phrases, fragments, and quotations that he borrows and appropriates with wit, imagination, and studied precision.
In performances, the artist oscillates between different intensities and characters, while in her enamel and mural works she uses graphic design as a tool to adjust tone, change the inflection of a word, or adopt a different type of voice. Words are thus employed as both medium and content, transforming familiar phrases into incisive observations on the ways in which language determines our everyday lives. His works examine the present age, which is characterized by an abundance of words and their continuous repetition that quickly dwarfs their meaning. They amplify the tension between form and content generated through his slow and deliberate mode of production, the subtle imperfections telling of their meticulous and careful, hand-crafted achievement. The murals that cover the walls serve as a backdrop to the glazed panels, thus creating friction between the rigor of the artist’s practice and the fragmented and decontextualized messages of the works. The exhibition feels like the rhyming narrative of a poem, the rhythm of which is provided by the colors and words that contrast and blend. By thoroughly investigating, elaborating and studying contemporary concerns and language, the artist presents incredibly unique, personal and intimate reflections that channel both the essence and nonsense of what moves modern collectivity.
“I just basically consume a lot of daily stuff. Then I take out what I find interesting or resonates, and copy and paste it into my page files… It’s like a stock of language that I can employ even in social settings, and it is inevitably becoming part of my life.”
