Underdogs presents “I don't wanna be, I am”, a new group exhibition, and “La Folie des Grandeurs”, a solo show by Julien Raffin
The Underdogs cultural platform opens to 1 de Abril his first collective exhibition of the year, curated by the artistic project Ink and Movement, together with the return of Julien Raffin after his exhibition in 2017. Both exhibitions will be open until 21 from May of 2022. Occupying the main space of the Gallery and with an opening scheduled for Friday 1 de Abril, unveils pieces by artists Elian Chali, Franco Fasoli, Martí Sawe, Misterpiro, Nano4814, Okuda San Miguel, Sabek, Sixe Paredes and Spok Brillor. At the same time, in the Cápsula space, it opens on the same day La Folie des Grandeurs, French artist Julien Raffin's second exhibition at Underdogs.
Underdogs is a cultural platform based in Lisbon, Portugal, which works with artists linked to the new languages of urban-inspired graphic and visual culture, helping to establish a close relationship between creators and the city for the enjoyment of all. Established in 2010 and consolidated in its present form in 2013, the Underdogs project is based on three complementary areas: a Gallery with an innovative exhibition program; the production of original and accessible Artistic Editions; and a Public Art program that aims to promote art as an everyday experience, complemented by a guided tour scheme and an educational service.
I don't wanna be, I am brings together nine international artists who, despite their different paths and unique and individual works, share a transversal creative vision.Having already passed through Hamburg and Miami, the exhibition now arrives in Lisbon through Underdogs, presenting the work of the Argentine artists Elian Chali and Franco Fasoli, and the Spaniards Martí Sawe, Misterpiro, Nano4814, Okuda San Miguel, Sabek, Sixe Paredes and Spok Brillor.Sharing a desire to expose their work to an international audience through different formats, these artists combine large-scale public interventions with studio work, producing a range of creative objects through painting, sculpture and the design and development of art installations. .With works already presented and others specially developed for this show, I don't wanna be, I am explores the concept of identity in the context of the international art world, and is born out of the need to approach new codes, new spaces and new forms of interaction within the universe of contemporary creation, without hesitation.Reinforcing Underdogs' positioning as a platform for contemporary art at an international level, this exhibition also represents the Gallery's investment in Spanish and South American artistic production, which has already started with a series of individual and collective exhibitions by some of the artists involved in this presentation, including Okuda San Miguel (2014, 2016, 2017, 2019), and also Elian Chali and Sixe Paredes (2016). The result is an exhibition open to multiple interpretations and for all audiences, providing the opportunity to contemplate individual and collective creative identities.
In turn, in the Capsule space with La Folie des Grandeurs, Julien Raffin continues the series of the same name, which has been developing in recent years.Julien Raffin (1985) is a French artist based in Paris who manifests his visual creation through analogical collage, opposing historical and cultural references that are in rupture with our contemporary lives. Her work presents a dynamic and poetic narrative where color and black & white compositions oppose each other, revealing the contrast and dissonance between the past and the present in a disruptive harmony.Resulting from a continuous reflection and in constant evolution, La Folie des Grandeurs focuses on the exhaustive and frantic development of humanity, the seemingly insurmountable obstacles of modernity, industrial progress and the consequent impact on the planet's natural ecosystems.Focusing on the main achievements, turning points and milestones of humanity in the last eighty years, it emphasizes the contrast between the idealizations of those who lived before us, and the realities created by the consequences of their actions, as well as ours.Some of the compositions presented in this exhibition gave rise to a series of NFTs, recently launched exclusively through the Ephemeral Ethernal platform. However, in the gallery, and in its physical and tangible form, they demonstrate the artist's inescapably unique approach to the collage technique, creating an imaginary world in which the past, the present and the omen of the future coexist in a state of playful restlessness, which surprisingly creates a static and dynamic effect.Despite the spectral and almost ethereal sensibility they convey, these pieces represent a confrontation with the world around us, which in turn raises a sequence of urgent questions about the challenges we currently face, and a call for action and immediate resolution.
