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 OLIVIA STEELE 

available work

La artista de luz Olivia Steele (Nashville, 1985) se ha ganado una reputación internacional por sus instalaciones en neón. Siempre simbólicas y a veces irreverentes, sus frases iluminadas se suspenden en tiempo y movimiento en lugares como Berlín, Bombai, Roma, Miami, Tulúm.

 

Steele utiliza el poder de la luz para crear enunciados simbólicos que impactan y provocan. Su exploración con lo sublime y espiritual se manifiesta en imaginería explosiva bajo el objetivo de demostrar que el arte refleja al espectador y no a la vida misma. La obra de Steele es una síntesis de contraste y contradicción semiótica. Emociones ocultas y fuerzas invisibles cargan las piezas de Steele, siendo parte de su exploración los temas de conciencia y lo divino.

 

Steele encarna al cuenta cuentos tradicional usando al neón como medio contemporáneo. Sus textos son cortos, verdades puntuales que reflejan la ingenuidad (o malicia) de la era digital. Sus estructuras de vidrio son contextualizadas con imágenes discordantes: bombas atómicas, símbolos religiosos, estimulando al espectador. Sus intervenciones en espacios públicos integran al espacio para crear niveles de significado que el observador descubre e integra a su propia experiencia.

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Rational and radical, Intimate yet ironic, Olivia Steele's works juxtapose some of today's most striking social ambiguities in the form they choose and the message they convey.

 

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1985, Steele uses language and light in contrasting forms and environments to create her double entendres – based on select references that jar the viewer beyond the everyday. On a symbolic level, the results she produces are both iconic and personal.

 

Steele‘s work ranges from small to large installations placed in interior and outdoor landscapes. The artist relishes in the idea of contrast and contradiction and plays with our innate preconceptions. The juxtaposition of the neon statement and the environment is placed in, challenges conventional semiotics and evokes a wide range of interpretations.  In dialogue with media such as nature, photographs and found objects, she tells short stories that evoke thought while enlightening the scenery with elaborate handwritings in neon gas filled glass.

 

Olivia Steele (*1985 Nashville, Tennessee USA ) lives and works between Berlin and Mexico.

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Selected Solo Exhibitions

 

2018

  • Attached to Nothing. Connected to Everything, MAIA Contemporary, Mexico City

  • Save Me, Bombay Beach Biennale

  • Your Spirit Gets Me Higher and Higher, Oaxaca City

 

2017

  • Looking Forward, Group Show, Galleria Torbandena Projects, Trieste, Italy

  • Steininger Design Showroom, with Velvenoir, Vienna, Austria

  • The Beauty Project, with Stefan Sagmeister and RETNA, Mexico City, Mexico

  • Afrika Burn, Design and construction of stage and Neon installation in collaboration with Bridges for Music, Cape Town, South Africa

  • Urban Intervention, for Zona Maco, Mexico City, Mexico

 

2016

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  • Miami Beach Edition, Exhibition of works for Art Week, Miami

  • Scope Art Fair, Group Show, Art Angels Gallery, Miami

  • Faux Real, Solo Show, Circle Culture, Berlin

  • What You Seek Is Seeking You..., Burning Man, Black Rock City Nevada

  • Darkness Cannot Drive Out Darkness, Group Show, Lights of Soho Gallery, London

  • LIT, Group Exhibition, Cornell Museum, Delray, Florida

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2015

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  • Public Display of Affection, Urban Interventions Project, Tulum

  • The Little House, Collaboration with Moral Turgeman, Burning Man Arts, Black Rock City

  • You Are Exactly Where You Need To Be, Installation for Burning Man, Black Rock City

  • Berlin Art Week, Group Show, Cirlcue Culture Gallery, Berlin

  • Some Place Like Home, Rumney Guggenheim Gallery, New York

  • Hello Darkness and Viva La Muerte, Day of the Dead, Oaxaca

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2014

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  • VIENNAFAIR, Circle Culture Gallery, Vienna

  • Solo Show, Circle Culture Gallery at Hotel de Rome, Berlin

  • Nothing is what it seems, Solo Show, Circle Culture Gallery, Hamburg

  • Atrium for Art Basel Miami, solo show, Miami

  • The Corner, Solo Show, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin

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2013

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  • POTSE 68., Group Show, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin

  • Installation for Pret A Diner (PAD), Art Basel, Basel

  • Collaboration with Stefan Strumbel, Circle Culture Gallery at PAD, Berlin

  • The Truth Hurts, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin

  • Art Karlsruhe, Art Fair, Circle Culture Gallery, Karlsruhe

  • Ephemeral, Group Show, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin

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2012

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  • Exhibition of Neon Artworks, Solo Show, Circle Culture Gallery at Corner Store, Berlin

  • Acquired Taste, Solo Show, Circle Culture Gallery at Soho House, West Hollywood

  • Save The Best For Last, Solo Show, Circle Culture Gallery at PAD, Berlin

  • In The Mix, Circle Culture Gallery at PAD, Berlin

  • Gallery Weekend, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin

 

 2011

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  • The Melting Pot, Ulf Saupe Galerie, Berlin

  • Up Against The Wall, with Maximillian Weidemann at PAD, Berlin

  • Welcome to Cashville, Private Collection, Nashville

  • Culinary Journey, PAD, Berlin

  • The Tree House, PAD, Frankfurt

  • The Minotaur, Lazarides Gallery, London

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