André Viana is proud to present EXALE, a selection of works from ONE2 Collection: Neil Beloufa, Kerstin Brätsch, Latifa Echakhch, Marlie Mul, Yves Scherer and Reena Spaulings. This selection of works from ONE2 Collection awakens the senses by rendering the extraordinary behind the ordinary. The prose of Vladimir Nabokov comes to mind—in particular, his creative principle of looking at everything as if for the very first time. These artists, too, transform quotidian gesture into miraculous force by imbuing the sensuous with wonder.

The show nods to representation of the female body as artistic framework and refrain. Swiss artist Yves Scherer (b. 1987) stencils a woman lying down in pink by the delicate wire silhouettes of French-Algerian Neil Beloufa (b. 1985). These pieces are embedded in broader bodies of Post-Internet mania, but here, without direct recourse to the expected tech aesthetic, they portray the female figure from innocence. Further on, the lines and shapes of German artist Kerstin Brätsch (b. 1969) suggest human anatomy while New York-based Reena Spaulings (est. 2004) appropriates Yves Klein’s trope of the painting-as-body.

Dutch artist Marlie Mul (b. 1980) arouses wonder through dissociation. In Air Vent/Butt Stop, form no longer follows function. Everyday objects take on entirely different uses in sculptures that simulate familiar outdoor settings. Moroccan-French artist Latifa Echakhch’s (b. 1974) overlaying rug cutouts further dislodges practical significance, which leads to the revelation of hidden codes of meaning. The viewer must trade established semiotic relationships for the capacity to wonder, which, according to Nabokov, is the highest form of consciousness. “Let all of life be an unfettered howl,” he writes. “Like the crowd greeting the gladiator. Don’t stop to think, don’t interrupt the scream, exhale, release life’s rapture.”