Ellen de Bruijne PROJECTS is delighted to present a selection of work by Daniele Formica under the title Lonely Legionaries in the backspace of the gallery. Opening on February 10, simultaneous to Tincuta Marin's solo opening Purring Figure, from 3 to 7pm.
Lonely Legionaries is about singularities in and out of multitudes (the legions). The multitude is conforming the ones, like the ranks of an army, and the ones stand out from the ranks (until they are forced to fall back). Selecting, choosing, isolating: these are forms of violence on the individual, on the one hand; a mechanism of giving value, feeling something beyond the multitude on the other.
The works in this small-scale presentation reference the legion as the conforming multitude, a space where the dissident needs to stand out, yet at the same time hide within. Mechanisms such as wearing masks and personas, individuating the similar or the other, exorcising inner legions of demons, expressing oneself in an allusive and open way, or shamelessly embracing outstanding singularity are examples of the violent relation between the individual (legionnaire) and the collective (legion).
The videos are part of a series where Formica references to multitudes by the different costumes that he wears when dancing (Roman Legionnaire Party costume, Sport outfit and Long dress). These represent a multitude of personae Formica puts on while dancing, as If he became a spirit inhabiting these costumes, giving them life through dance. This is further elaborated by the layering of the dances through beaming other past dance sequences, adding to the multitude through time, creating a psychedelic effect of combination between a legion becoming one and one splitting into a legion.
The painting The Many Images (2023) continues to explore Formica's interest in the individual and the collective, whilst L.O.V. (2023) stands as a liberation of a past love's torment.
