Jamiu Agboke / Valentina Lupi

JAMIU AGBOKE
Second solo exhibition
The Argonauts
at
VIN VIN, Vienna

Text by Matthew Holman Text by Matthew Holman

In his new body of work, which bears the title The Argonauts as a homage to Nelson, Jamiu Agboke is interested in tracking the passages of time in single compositional frames: we find ourselves at the water’s edge, on the boundaries between sea and sky, and cannot help but wonder how they were brought into the world, on copper and aluminium, as we imagine all the transformational interventions of the artist to bring them home. These are works that appear burdened by the sheer materiality of their métier: they are undeniably heavy, heavy as metal, but have a delicate finesse to their heaviness. Agboke situates us beside those liminal spaces where successive voyagers have embarked and returned, tracing the expatriate’s farewell and the prodigal’s homecoming, and are themselves works that carry the very residues of life-affirming expedition.

VALENTINA LUPI
First solo exhibition
Valerie’s pearl
at
CONTRAPPUNTO,
the project space of VIN VIN, conceived and built by Martin Hotter, and embedded in the gallery space

Valerie’s pearl is a title that evokes both the unsettling and the marvelous, inspired by the film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, in which the young protagonist constantly flees from dark and malevolent presences, finding salvation by placing a pearl in her mouth. This small but powerful object becomes a true key to salvation, a talisman that, like an alchemical ritual, offers protection and redemption.

Furthermore, the pearl evokes the concepts of rarity and luminosity: its shiny, iridescent surface reflects light in an almost hypnotic manner, much like the works on display, which stand out for their brilliance and ability to captivate the viewer’s attention. The intrinsic preciousness of the pearl mirrors that of the displayed elements, which, in their finiteness, offer themselves as a form of aesthetic salvation, inviting the observer to reflect more deeply on the role of art in our existence.

Thus, the works here displayed are not merely a physical object, but a profound metaphor, representing art itself as a refuge—an element capable of elevating us above the daily routine.

Valentina Lupi, born in Arezzo, 1997, lives and works in Milan, Italy.