Gasworks presents The Lustful Turk, a first UK solo exhibition by Italian artist Patrizio Di Massimo.
Comprising newly commissioned painting, drawing, sculpture and wallpaper, Di Massimo’s exhibition introduces his ongoing project The Lustful Turk, initiated in 2012 and inspired by an erotic epistolary novel of the same name. First published anonymously in 1828, the book tells the story of Emily Barlow, an English girl who is abducted by the Dey of Algiers, incorrectly described as a ‘Turk’ and with whom she ends up falling madly in love.
Both critical of and intrigued by the worldview captured in this novel, Di Massimo knowingly reproduces its bawdiness and racist stereotypes in lush colours, soft furnishings and delicate brushstrokes. Imparting a feeling of guilty pleasure, symbolic statues and ornaments are shown to indulge the libidinal desires of characters that represent either whiteness robbed of innocence or an amoral otherness. Their erotic acts and gestures are also only ever half-concealed behind exuberant décor or a thin veneer of innuendo, with candles dripping wax, voluptuous cushions and hands grasping at the air all signifying sex or the longing for it.
Existing works on show from this series directly appropriate scenes from the original novel to emphasise the relationships between cultural and sexual boundaries. The concealment of penetration, for instance, hints at a cultural encounter that poses a threat to the integrity of Western civilisation, whereas sexual role-play exposes racist stereotypes. New works, on the other hand, move further away from this literary source to more freely explore the relationships between bodies and objecthood, politics and ornamentation, shame and desire, in a similarly lavish Victorian image world.
The Lustful Turk is the inaugural exhibition of The Civilising Process, a 13-month programme of
exhibitions and events at Gasworks inspired by German sociologist Norbert Elias’ 1939 eponymous
book, which looks at the development of the tastes, manners and sensibilities of Western Europeans
since the Middle Ages. Between September 2013 and November 2014, Gasworks will collaborate
with invited artists, designers, curators and researchers to tackle a wide range of issues raised by
this book in an attempt to understand their relevance for contemporary debates and practices. The
Civilising Process includes five exhibitions, a programme of interdisciplinary events, contributions to
Gasworks’ online platform Pipeline and a printed publication.
Free admission. Opening times: Wed–Sun, 12–6pm or by appointment.
info@gasworks.org.uk / http://gasworks.org.uk / 020 7587 5202
Gasworks, 155 Vauxhall Street, London. SE11 5RH.
Nearest tube: Oval (Northern line) / Vauxhall (Victoria line)
