ST. LOUIS, MO.- Laumeier Sculpture Park presents Gigi Scaria: Time, April 16–August 14, 2016. The multimedia exhibition consists of recent photographs, films and a large sculpture inside the Whitaker Foundation Gallery at the Adam Aronson Fine Arts Center, plus an outdoor commission located in Laumeier‘s Ferring Family Foundation Museum Lawn. Gigi Scaria: Time is organized by Dana Turkovic, Laumeier‘s Curator of Exhibitions.
New Delhi-based artist Gigi Scaria‘s work focuses on "social mapping"—whether territorial, cultural, environmental or of the hierarchies and systems of our global communities. Each element draws on these themes, continuing Scaria‘s inquiry into time, migration, community collapse and the beauty in labor and collaboration. He explores the layers of ancient cultures as they get subsumed in the world‘s mega-cities and reflects on the unique form of city-building that exists in St. Louis by cross-pollinating the disappearing architecture and symbols from New Delhi with the Woodhenge at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.
"This show is an attempt to observe the intricacies of the phenomena called ‗time,‘‖ said Scaria. "Memories and histories of our 'time' are slipping into the whirlpool of change, which is only understood by the notion called 'speed.‘ Invoking the mounds at Cahokia to the present-day crisis of widespread migrant population, Time tries to grab our time through many perspectives. This is the first time my large-scale sculptural work will be exhibited in a public space abroad. I am really excited for this opportunity at Laumeier, and am looking forward to the interaction of the Park‘s visitors with my work."
Scaria‘s practice focuses on the hurried transformation of cityscapes—more specifically, the sprawl of New Delhi and the chaotic demolition and displacement throughout impoverished areas. With a layer of satire and cynicism, his abstracted structures—both imagined and constructed—explore the themes and experience of ―time‖ in an analysis of urban architecture and investigate the past, present and future of his location and the permanence and impermanence of personal and social space.
Gigi Scaria: Time is part of Laumeier‘s new five-year programming theme, New Territories: BRICS, 2015–19. New Territories takes a broad look at the world‘s cultural zones as they have directly and indirectly impacted life in St. Louis. Projects and activities under New Territories will twist the economic acronym BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa] beyond the market forces driving the global economy.
