9 October 2017

Max Mara Art Prize winner Emma Hart's 'Mamma Mia!' installation with story-telling patterns and ceramics is derived from research on family dynamics

From 15 October until 18 February 2018, Max Mara Art prize winning work 'Mamma Mia!' by Emma Hart will be shown at the exhibition space of the private art collection Collezione Maramotti which is located at the historical headquarters of Max Mara company in Reggio Emilia in Italy.

The installation 'Mamma Mia!' consists of several ceramic heads which remind kitchen vessels, jugs (image below) and stand for the dynamics of a family. The jugs are filled with repeating patterns (like two heads with speech-bubbles such as on view at the picture right). For the development of the installation, the British in London-based artist Emma Hart (born 1974) used her residency in Italy for researches on repeated patterns in the behaviour of families nowadays and family structures in ancient Rome. The second inspiring source for the creation of the installation is 'maiolica', Italian traditional ceramics which carry story-telling patterns. Emma Hart applied her illustrations to the jug-heads in maiolica-tradition.

fig. right: 'I, I, I' by Emma Hart, 2017. © Emma Hart. The pattern shows two heads with speech-bubbles saying 'I'. The pattern is applied inside one of the jug-heads of the 'Mamma Mia!' installation.

fig. below: Exhibition view (the detail shows one of the jug-heads and a ventilator made of a knife, fork and spoon) of the installation 'Mamma Mia!' by Emma Hart at Whitechapel Gallery, London. Photo: Thierry Bal. The biannual Max Mara Art Prize for Women (announced in 2005) is organized in collaboration with Whitechapel Gallery. Emma Hart is the 6th winner of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women. The installation 'Mamma Miia!' was shown first from 12 July to 3 September 2017 at Whitechapel Gallery and travels now to Collezione Maramotti where it can be viewed from 15 October until 18 February 2018. It's announced that 'Mamma Mia!' will be shown at Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh in fall 2018.

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