​Michele Gabriele 

He currently lives and works in Milano, Italy
Website: http://michelegabriele.tumblr.com/

Shitty-Slippy-Slutty (dry version), 2015 & Alexander of Bronze, 2015

You studied painting at Brera Academy from 2004 to 2007, but you now mostly work in sculpture. what drove this shift for you?
I studied painting but "painting" was just the name of the class, we never actually painted there, it was mostly a theoretical study. Anyway, I often paint my sculptures, 

How is the contemporary art scene in Italy?
I live close to Milan. there are a lot of good artists, and I have the feeling that something is going on there. It is nice to be there. Being as an artist in Italy can be kind of hard maybe, is true. But there are also a lot of projects that are actually really interesting (for example Siliqoon) and also a lot of very good magazines. 

Axonometric-Uncanny-Dimetric, 2015 & The Right Distance, 2015

​Where do your inspirations come from?
They come from images that I see on tumblr, old movies for kids (Greamlins, Ghostbuster, Howard the duck, ninja turtles etc.) and from a bunch of TV-series, and Sci-Fi. things inspiring me all the time, specially the landscapes in the cities. corners, and nights. I like the equilibrium of things, I like when something just happens, and I like how the time can give sense to things.

Do you see your sculptures as characters from TV shows or movies?
Both. They synthesize, they are containers of themselves.

What do containers mean to you?
I feel my works as containers of themselves. Sometimes containers have narrations to the idea of memories or some future projections.

Do you have pets?
I used to have pet rats, but now I don't have any pets. It's difficult to keep them happy all the time. I have plants now, a lot of them, plants can really make you feel calm and focused.
​

"They are standing there, under the weather, totally waterproof or completely wet" at Konstanet, Kunstihoone Art All, Tallinn​

​Can you talk about your current show "They are standing there, under the weather, totally waterproof or completely wet" at Konstanet? How did you translate all these pop culture references and brought them into your work?
Of course I can talk about it, with pleasure. This show basically was inspired by some suggestion that I had, especially by watching some TV-series and movies. Often there were groups of people that randomly happened to work or live together, to face some kind of dangerous situations. A zombie apocalypse for example.  I'm interested in the distance that exist between them, I feel them equidistant, and this distance (culturally of physically or for their background or whatever) is what really make them together, make them similar. they are similar because of equidistance, because of their differences. they have the same amount of distance. my sculptures are born in this way. they grow in this way, to keep their distance there. I feel this solo show as a group of sculptures with equidistant. that stand there in the space, ready to face future evil group shows.

Can you talk about the commodities you've used in your sculptures? Like pet food, vacuum, cleaning liquid, etc. They all symbolize the idea of home.
The materials were chosen for their ability to satisfy their ambitions and the works themselves, which they are often containers of experiences and of themselves. Mine is not a question of taste in fact, I try to meet the attitudes of some things, and the works grow on their own or fall over ourselves hiding and revealing details more or less important. I know that some objects that I used, or perhaps all, have a taste of home, and it gives me pleasure. It is my game but it isn't the reason why some things are there. I'm more fascinated by how the human mind sometimes loads everyday objects of some sort of responsibility. I often think of a hypothetical woman walked in a house, opened a drawer and looking at a hairbrush, bursts into tears . This is why I try to choose items that have the ability to load itself of mixed emotions, to be daily or common, but also items that would only be themselves, and with the capacity to remain very open in their simplicity somehow.

Whity-Trashy vol. 2, 2015

​Some of your photos are manipulated, right?
yes

Nice, why?
To me the documentation is also part of the work, and with Photoshop I can add some details or something that you could feel in real life. I can help the work to be present, be alive in a way also in the image. But it's not something I always do, just a few times when the works need it

m-lnx2015 (pink/pussy&blue/mood), 2015

“m-lnx2015″ (pink/pussy & blue/mood), 2015 - Installation view “KELLY BAR” organized by PANE project

​Who are your favorite artists?
I don't really have favorite artists, art is not something that I like, or I like to watch or that can make me feel better when I talk about it. I know that sound a little dramatic, but I'm Italian, so, maybe even authorize to be. Art is something that I deeply love, not that I like. So, for me it's kind of difficult to say who are my favorite artists. I love art in general and I really like people when they are artists, they can really make me cry if I think about their life and what they have to face every day; but I am my favorite artist. 

What do you like about yourself as an artist?
No, it's not like this. It's not about liking. anyway to answer you: I'm my favorite artist not because I'm better than other artists, but it's only because I don’t look at other artists in this way. I focus on my work. I mean: I try to be focused on my work.

How does this idea of concentration contextualize films, tumblr, and other contexts?
They are some of the things that I see inspire me, and inspire my work. But perhaps simply because this is what surrounds me, it is what I do during the day, and then back, through an aesthetic choice, through the excuse to make some points . They are often the negligible elements, the things that are not important.
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Whity-Trashy, 2015
transparent silicone, plastic granulate, polistyrene, cat food, hair gel, liquid soap, feathers, beach umbrella pole support, foam-rubber, papier-mache

Are your sculptures timeless?
In my opinion, art is timeless and always contemporary and I hope that my sculptures are. I hope they have a certain taste, which also speak of timelessness. I often try to incorporate tension into my work, which is halfway between something that is going to happen, and something that has just happened.

You have talked about time, space, and memories, do you think that all these dimensions tide into the idea of ruins?
I really like the idea of ruin, yet I believe that if this belongs to my work, it only does in some parts. Perhaps because even if the appearance of it is sometimes reminiscent of a ruin, for me it's more like a premonition. Not a premonition of an absolute future, not even the future of aesthetic or art, I’m not so “uppish”; but it is a premonition of his own future. Often some of my works have seemed to be a premonition (foreshadowing) of how it would become my work itself in the future more or less near future.

SMOOTHY SMOKY (A wonderful summer), 2014

​What are you currently working on?
In these days I’m working on a sculpture that will be shown at Galeria da Boavista in Lisbon in April 2016, in a group show titled “Aujourd'hui je dis oui”, by Aujourd'hui (a Portugal based contemporary art magazine). This work is a cross between a barbell and a monument. It is a memorial object but also an object that wants to motivate. In a sense it tries to be an object that looks simultaneously back and forth. This work is loosely based on the story of a friend of mine, (Hassy) who during a freestyle-motocross training was supposed to jump 23 metres, but he jumped 22. However, practically, I'm spending a lot of time perfecting different types of synthetic mud, I will need it to cover some parts of the sculpture.

Why did you choose synthetic-based-mud?
Probably the sense of urgency that led me to build this synthetic mud instead of just use the real mud, I needed a material that was an almost-mud but not mud. And perhaps also because I'm working a lot lately to make sure that my work may stay longer without disappearing too fast.

There's something sad and romantic about lost art. Do you want your sculptures last forever?
Personally I just hope they will remain enough time. 
​

SHITTY-SLIPPY-SLUTTY (A beautiful and dangerous night), 2015

​What do you want to say to yourself?
Michele: eat less carbs; walk more; always be focused; try to be happy.