Emanuele Resce’s exhibition at gr_und was organized in collaboration with Secant Space in Istanbul. Here, the artist developed his work “Iconoclasm of the Present”, a research project exploring the redefinition of collective identity through the transformation and erasure of images.

Resce's practice is shaped by overlapping layers: temporal, geographical, and interpretative. Moving freely between past and present, he assembles heterogeneous elements into unstable configurations that oscillate between construction and transformation. His works appear as contemporary totems carrying both individual and collective memories.

This project began during a residency at Secant Space in Istanbul, where the artist encountered a city formed through successive transformations — Ottoman heritage coexisting with contemporary urban development, different religious traditions inhabiting the same architectures over time. It continued in Casalbore, a small village in southern Italy where Resce grew up, before extending to Berlin, where he explored new collaborations with artists from the local scene.

The evening opens with a short presentation of the exhibition and the curatorial collaboration between Éléonore Varone (Secant Space, Istanbul) and James Verhille (gr_und, Berlin). A video work documenting Resce's research process follows. The evening closes with a live electronic performance by Turkish artist and musician Hilal Can — extending into sound the artistic exchange Resce initiated in Istanbul.

gr_und

gr_und is a project space in Berlin Wedding conceived as an incubator for collaborations with artists of all media. The group who runs the project space consist of artists, curators, producers, art handlers and creative individuals who work collectively on a volunteer basis. Their model is structured in a horizontal way, around social encounters nurturing accessibility rather than one that is enclosed and hierarchical. 

gr_und is a transdisciplinary space for visual arts, performances, sound and linguistics, whose mission is to support artists and advancing the knowledge of what  contemporary practice, visual arts and culture can be in Berlin.

Founded: 2017