Exhibition Launch Night – Thursday 9 September (6-9pm)
If you are suffering from post holiday blues then let Blank Media Collective banish them away, as they aim to keep the cold dreary Mancunian showers at bay by presenting the vibrant and contemporary work of Mario Sughi. A New Sense of Emptiness will transport you back to the lazy days of summer and make that transition to autumn that little bit easier.
A New Sense of Emptiness signals the start of Blank Media Collective’s exciting new Exhibitions Programme (2010-12) at greenroom, as they plan to showcase the best emerging talents from throughout the UK. Blank Media Collective are setting the standards high by exhibiting the cutting edge work of Mario Sughi, an Italian artist and illustrator based in Dublin. It is clear to see Blank Media Collective is starting their residency in high style and with an abundance of energy, aiming to produce a contemporary platform for the North West.
It is no wonder Blank Media Collective are keen to present the cutting edge work of Mario Sughi; he was credited by Lurzer’s Archive as being one of the ‘200 Best Illustrators Worldwide 2009’. In the past year he has been receiving an array of prestigious awards for his innovative practice. These include the 30th Annual of Italian Illustrators, the 7th 3×3 Mag Annual and also the 29th American Illustrators. Blank Media Collective is the first to champion the work of Mario Sughi by organising his first solo show in Manchester, which will mark an important new step in his career.
A New Sense of Emptiness presents work from Mario Sughi’s current collection. Sughi’s practice is a clever fusion of fashion illustration and satirical comics. The images may seem simplistic in their style but contain cryptic elements. Whilst having a drink at the bar, you can be drawn into Sughi’s glamorous world where they may notice absurdities such as a missing shoe or a piece of floating furniture in these enticing illustrations.
“I love the sense of mystique that Mario Sughi captures with his illustrations. There always seems to be a simmering storyline brewing below the surface of the frame.” Lostateminor.org, AUS, March 2008
The bright saturation of colours, clean lines and intricate composition create beautiful images that often feature attractive characters lazing around in their decadent surroundings.
“The people in Mario Sughi’s vivid illustrations seem to be living a technicolour, minimalist lifestyle. Evocative at times of David Hockney’s work, these are images of consuming couples, sporty young people and languid moments. The leisure class is under Sughi’s microscope and gets served back up to us in many different flavours. Sughi’s style is saucy and leaves an undercurrent of mystery in the seemingly simple narrative under all those layers of colour.” MoCo Loco Art Magazine, Canada, 2009
