MAYDAY EVERYDAY. Sylvie Fleury, Olivia Erlanger, I.W. Payne, Nicole Colombo

17 February – 4 May, 2024

Sometimes, in order to understand things, you just need to scratch a bit the surface, but other times you need to actually go a bit more into it’. Scratching the surface is sometimes not enough, as Sylvie Fleury states. Things are in fact noticed, enhanced, changed and evolved by going deeper. The four female artists invited to the exhibition are united by the urgency of a critical gaze that acts with strength and personality, relating the real to the fictitious, the everyday to the elaboration of new worlds. Nicole Colombo, Olivia Erlanger, Sylvie Fleury and I.W. Payne stage – through a careful selection of works and site-specific installations – poetics, values perceived with seriousness and irony, meticulous research into materials and new imagery. Fiction, stereotypes indicated with subtle humour, cynicism and sensuality, gender politics finely dealt with, dystopian combinations, ultra-worlds as refuges for escape: the artists point out values on which to set their gaze from common elements. The gallery is reminiscent of a home, an intimate, inclusive place that leads to reflection and self-care. A private and guarded nest where everyone is welcome and included, the consumerism of objects is overturned, their use changes. Mayday Everyday traces a path that unravels starting from a new installation conceived by Nicole Colombo for the journey along with I.W. Payne, who shows for the first time in Italy.

Rossella Farinotti

Installation view

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

Installation view

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

Installation view

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

Nicole Colombo | Mother, Daughter, Goddess

2024 | Plexiglass, studs, silver-plated galvanized brass, iron | 181 x 51.5 x 5 cm

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

Sylvie Fleury | Stolen Kisses

2008 | Silkscreen print in colors on Dom Pérignon crystal glass | 26 x 10.5 x 10.5 ø cm

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

Nicole Colombo | Nausicaa is a punk rocker

2024 | Ceramic, steel, resin, synthetic hair | 55 x 24 x 7.5 cm

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

I.W. Payne | Multipack 2

2024 | Coloured pencil on paper in artist’s frame in maplewood | 42 x 59.4 cm

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

Olivia Erlanger | 5:13 PM

2020 | Miniature toilet, bathtub, shower, scale, rubber ducky, succulents, Evian plastic tile, resin, HDU foam, wood, MDF, polyester paint, plexiglass | 50.8 × 50.8 × 25.4 cm

All photo credits to Theo Christelis | Courtesy of the artist and Soft Opening, London

Olivia Erlanger | 11:34 AM

2020 | Miniature bed, dresser, Mac desktop, mic stand, white Fender, dirty laundry, mirror, paint supplies, books, snowflakes, resin, HDU foam, wood, MDF, polyester paint, plexiglass | 50.8 × 50.8 × 25.4 cm

All photo credits to Theo Christelis | Courtesy of the artist and Soft Opening, London

I.W. Payne | Birdsnest

2022 | Coloured pencil on paper in artist’s frame in maplewood | 29.7 x 21 cm

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

I.W. Payne | Tired Usherette

2022 | Maplewood, embroidered silk, cotton strap, leather, aluminium hooks, jesmonite | Variable dimensions

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

Sylvie Fleury | Cuddly Painting (Pink)

1993 | Synthetic fur on stretcher | 35.5 x 35.5 x 15.5 cm

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

I.W. Payne | Changing Room Eavesdropper

2022 | Aluminium hook, glass, transfers | Variable dimensions

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

Olivia Erlanger | Pergusa

2019 | Washing machine, silicone, polystyrene foam, MDF, Playwood | 165 x 60 x 25 cm

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti

Nicole Colombo | Ti ho donato una lacrima

2024 | Ceramic bathroom tiles, resin, synthetic hair, steel, silver-plated galvanized brass, glass, ceramic | 52 x 75 x 8 cm

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

Nicole Colombo | Body

2024 | Ceramic bathroom tiles, resin, synthetic hair | Variable dimensions

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.

Nicole Colombo | Water chestnut seeds rings

2024 | Silver | 4 x 4.5 x 3 cm | Artist proof

All photo credits to Michela Pedranti.