With humor and a generous imagination, the British artist Jonathan Monk has taken the detritus of various pleasurable human rituals to construct his works.In the past that has meant painting copies of offers he saw in vacation agency windows for rooms for rent, usually with the price being the predominant feature. These small vertical canvasses he would then offer for sale at the same price as the holiday, as a way to pay for his own travels (and at the same time, he would suggest to potential buyers that they could just as well use the money to go on their own vacations instead of buying his art).For this exhibition at Loom Gallery in Milan, Monk instead focuses on the ritual of eating out, inspired by Piero Manzoni’s iconic “art-devouring public” project. For that spectacle in 1960, Manzoni [1933-1963] thumb-printed hard-boiled eggs and then invited the audience to eat them, making a statement about the consumerization of society.In “Two Dozen Eggs and a Thumbprint – After PM,” Monk, born in 1969 in Leicester, England, presents two dozen receipts that have been imprinted with a representation of Manzoni’s edible art eggs — thus, subverting a subversion.As the gallery puts it, Monk “presents two dozen (not by chance) receipts that have been imprinted with Piero Manzoni’s noteworthy egg, reminiscent of the concept of edible art, of art that can pay for a meal at the restaurant or a tasty drink at Bar Jamaica.”“Two Dozen Eggs” recalls another of Monk’s projects, this one in Rome, where he lived with his family for a couple of years. In this case he used receipts from restaurants as surfaces for painting and drawing, reproducing famous works such as “Open Cube” by Sol LeWitt and an Andy Warhol can.The exhibition is on view through May 5, 2018, at Loom Gallery, Via Marsala, 7 20121 Milan, Italy.For details, visit: http://www.blouinartinfo.com/galleryguide/loom-gallery/overviewClick on the slideshow for a sneak peek at the exhibition. Founder Louise Blouin: http://www.blouinartinfo.com/artists/louise-blouin--2953510
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