ego gallery, Via Luigi Canonica 9, CH-6900 - Rough Dreams

ego gallery, Via Luigi Canonica 9, CH-6900 Lugano www.egogallery.ch, [email protected], M +41 (0)79 280 40 53

Press releaseLugano, 15 July 2013

Children of the Revolution, exhibition curated by Fanny Giniès, September 6-October 12, 2013Opening: September 6th, 2013, from 5:30 pm

Ciou, Home Sweet Home, mixed media, 65 x 54 cm, 2012

Victor Castillo, Funny Little Man, Acrylic on canvas, 60,9 x 60,9 cm, 2011

Sergio Mora, Children of the revolution, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 100 x 73 cm, 2013


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06.09-12.10.2013Children of the Revolution, exhibition curated by Fanny Giniès

Political revolution, then, is hinted throughout all of Victor Castillo’s work. Growing up in Chile under the dictatorial influence of the Pinochet Regime, Castillo incessantly pictures the darker aspects of our modern world. Diverting symbols of the Nazi aesthetic and the cartoons, he likes to confront the supposedly innocent world of childhood to the harsh and cruel world of adults. Therefore, he intends to denounce corruption, vice and all forms of authority (police, religion or government-related).

Lastly, Sergio Mora takes part in an artistic sedition started long before him by pop artists, claiming that the dichotomy between commercial art and fine art is no longer relevant. The artist examines the crossover opportunities that exist in various creative fields such as illustration, music, fine arts, comic books design, etc. Mora’s artworks are enchanting tributes to the great masters of Re-naissance, painted with a naïve and fantastic style. One can find in Sergio Mora’s art a childhood-related oneiric universe as well as an appeal for pop culture, of which he humorously diverts the icons.

Thanks to the Children of the Revolution exhibition, ego gallery will hopefully bring to light one of the most dynamic and popular current of contemporary figurative painting, still little known to the swiss audience but which will assuredly hold everyone’s attention.

From September 6 to October 12 2013, ego gallery is pleased to present for the first time in Switzer-land the art of painters Ciou, Victor Castillo and Sergio Mora on the occasion of the Children of the Revolution exhibition.

Hailing respectively from France, Chile and Spain, artists Ciou, Victor Castillo and Sergio Mora have con-tributed in spreading worldwide the american Lowbrow and Pop Surreal-ist genres of painting. Setting them-selves against conventions, all three combine popular culture references with classical painting techniques reminiscent of the old masters.

Against a background of political, personal and artistic revolution, Ciou, Castillo and Mora each help in their own way to shape the fresher face of contemporary painting. Personal uprising, first, has been Ciou’s driv-ing force as she was forced to run counters to the conceptual approach of her art school at a very young age. Attaching importance to the hybridi-zation of styles, Ciou has created a singular baroque world filled with enchanted creatures. Easily recog-nizable, the art of Ciou treads the fine line between dreams and night-mares. Her meticulous paintings and drawings are inspired by Japanese folklore, religious art, Flemish paint-ing, tattoo art, rockabilly and natural sciences, among others.


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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Solo exhibitions (selection)_2013UNDER HEAVY MEASURES Merry Karnowsky GalleryLos Angeles, USA

_2012THE JUNGLE Jonathan Levine GalleryNew York, USA

_2011MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Helium Cowboy GalleryHamburg, Germany

REBELS WITH A CAUSEMerry Karnowsky GalleryLos Angeles, USA

_2010STRANGE FRUITMerry Karnowsky GalleryLos Angeles, USA

VICTOR CASTILLOLondon Miles GalleryLondon, UK

_2009GAMELANDMerry Karnowsky GalleryLos Angeles, USA

RESTLESS AND WILDHelium Cowboy GalleryHamburg, Germany

_2008BEFORE OPEN SKYRoq La Rue GallerySeattle, USA

_2007EXPLICIT LYRICSIgaupop GalleryBarcelona, Spain

VICTOR CASTILLOVictor Castillo was born in 1973 in Santiago, Chile. Following a disil-lusive experience with art school, Castillo collaborated with Caja Negra, an independent experi-mental art collective in Santiago, creating mixed media sculpture and video installations. In 2004, the artist moved to Barcelona, Spain, where he established his painting style with references to vintage comics and cartoons. Influenced by seeing the work of Spanish old world masters, Goya in particular, he soon adopted aspects of classical painting in his work. In 2010, Castillo relocated to Los Angeles, California, where he is currently based. Castillo’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide including the Apocalypse Wow exhibition at the Museo D’Arte Contemporanea in Rome, Italy. He has created large-scale indoor murals for numerous institutions such as the Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts in San-tiago, Chile; the Museum of Modern Art in Chiloe, Chile and the Center for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, Spain.

Group exhibitions (selection)_2013DECADE 1 Varnish Fine ArtSan Francisco, USA

LALUZAPALOOZALa Luz de Jesus GalleryLos Angeles, USA

_2012CAPRICHOS DE UN CURADORMuseo Nacional de Bellas ArtesSantiago, Chile

_2011LES ENFANTS TERRIBLESRésonance Biennale de LyonLyon, France

_2010URBAN SUPERSTAR SHOW Museo MADRENaples, Italy

RELATIONSHIPS Galleri Christoffer EgelundCopenhagen, Denmark

_2009APOCALYPSE WOW Museo de Arte Moderno de Roma Rome, Italy

_2008BIENAL DEL MUSEO DE BELLAS ARTES Museo Nacional de Bellas ArtesSantiago, Chile

XX SUMMER MAM Museum of Modern Art ChiloéChiloé, Chile

_2007BAC! 07 BABYLONCCCB Centro de Cultura ContemporáneaBarcelona, Spain

IGUAPOP Helium Cowboy Art SpaceHamburg, Germany

MODART AT THE BMX MASTER JugenparkCologne, Germany


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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Solo exhibitions (selection)_2013A SPELL ON YOUKochxbos GalleryAmsterdam, Netherlands

SOLO SHOWGalerie du basMusée de la Halle Saint-PierreParis, France

_2012NECRO KAWAÏMondo Bizzarro GalleryRoma, Italy

_2011THE BLACK PARADEKochxbos GalleryAmsterdam, Netherlands

_2010REBIRTHMondo Bizzarro GalleryRome, Italy

MYSTERIOUS FLOWERSRoq La Rue GallerySeattle, USA

CIOUCiou was born in Toulouse (France), where she currently lives and works. After studying art at the Institut Supé-rieur des Arts of Toulouse, Ciou soon gained attention in the contemporary pop art and lowbrow scene. Her first important exposition was in 2004 at the Flux Factory (New York, USA), alongside Camille Rose Garcia and Miss Van.Since, she enhanced her strange and fantastical world, while keeping on improving her technique, which con-sists in painting with acrylics and ink on a collage background composed of pages from vintage dictionaries, medical and science texts, and na-ture encyclopedias. Highly detailed, Ciou’s artworks showcase young nymphs surrounded by surreal and burlesque creatures. Inspired by magic, comics, Japanese folklore, B-movies and vintage toys, these artworks bring to mind the legends and fairy tales that we were told dur-ing childhood.Ciou has taken part in shows in various galleries and institutions worldwide (Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, USA…). A docu-mentary about her work has been broadcasted recently on Dutch television (Season 2, EP. 5 of Sarah’s Barbaren, VPro channel) and he has had publications in HEY!, Elegy and Rise magazines.Ciou is also the co-author of the book Chat Siamois, published in 2009 (Vesnusdea / Soleil Editions).

Group exhibitions (selection)_2012TINY TRIFECTACotton Candy MachineNew York, USA

DEATH AND THE MAIDENRoq La Rue GallerySeattle, USA

LE CABARET ORGANIQUE Collectif NyctalopesParis, France

ATELIER POPSURRÉALISTE Mondo Pop galleryRoma, Italy

_2011A DREAM WITHIN A DREAMRue de BeauceParis, France

SWEET STREET 80’S INFLUENCE IN JAPAN TODAYWWA GalleryCalifornia, USA


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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Solo exhibitions (selection)_2011LAS MUSASGaleria Drexel ProyectosMéxico, Mexico

_2010THE BOXER AND THE MAGIC BOXVértigo GaleríaMéxico, Mexico

TYPICAL SPANGLISHGalería A&DBarcelona, Spain

_2009LA SERPIENTE LATINAAlcove Arts GalleryAtlanta, USA

PADRISIMOGalería “Como me ves te verás”Barcelona, Spain

Group exhibitions (selection)_2012GREEN BLOODDorothy Circus GalleryRoma, Italy

MAGICLANDGaleria ContrastBarcelona, Spain

DON´T WAKE DADDY IIFeinkunst KrügerHamburg, Germany

_2011 GRAFIKA30 artistas de la España JovenInstituto CervantesSpain

POP SURREALISM BIG BANGMondopop GalleryRoma, Italy

LITERAL EYESLondon Miles GalleryLondres, UK

SACRED MACHINESacred museumTucson, USA

PIÑATARAMAMuseo de arte moderno de México, México, Mexico

25 YEARSLa Luz de Jesús GalleryLos Angeles, USA

SERGIO MORASergio Mora was born in Barcelona (Spain) in 1975, where he cur-rently lives and works. A cartoonist and a commercial artist, he has created numerous advertisement campaigns, TV show opening titles, record covers and illustrated several children’s books. In parallel, he presents his personal work in gallery shows, festivals or art fairs.

Mora likes to picture voluptuous shapes, disproportionate bodies and uses a bright and vast palette of colors. He looks away from the classical ideals of beauty in order to invent his own pop and fanciful vision of the world. His style evokes the painters Fernando Botero and the Douanier Rousseau of whom he shares the freshness and the po-etry. Greatly inspired by the Span-ish and American cultures, Sergio Mora likes to confront the symbols of both countries, recreating for instance traditional bullfighting scenes with TV show characters.

Sergio Mora’s work has been ex-hibited in Spain, in Italy, in France, in Germany, in the USA, in the United Kingdom, in Mexico and in Canada, among others.


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IMAGES AVAILABLE FOR THE PRESS

The artworks presented above will not necessarily be exhibited, please contact us for more informations.

CIOU

Ciou, Different Realities, 2013

52 x 35 cm

Mixed media

Courtesy of the artist & ego gallery

Ciou, Home Sweet Home, 2012

65 x 54 cm

Mixed media


Ciou, Planet of the Black Parade, 2012

63 x 58 cm

Mixed media



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VICTOR CASTILLO

Victor Castillo, Funny Little Man, 2011

60,90 x 60,90 cm

Acrylics on canvas


Victor Castillo, Love Will Keep Us Together, 2013

76,20 x 76,20 cm

Acrylics on canvas


Victor Castillo, No more fantasies, 2012

91.50 x 91,50 cm

Acrylics on canvas



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SERGIO MORA

Sergio Mora, Children of the revolution, 2013

100 x 73 cm

Acrylics and oil on canvas


Sergio Mora, Electric funeral, 2013

100 x 100 cm



Sergio Mora, The Relay, 2013

92 x 73 cm




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GENERAL INFORMATIONS

Children of the RevolutionCurated by Fanny Giniès

September 6 through October 12, 2013Opening Reception: Sept 6, 2013

from 5:30 pm

ego gallery HoursTuesday to Friday: 2pm-7pm

Saturday: 10pm-6pmSunday-Monday: Closed

ContactFanny Giniès

[email protected]

Valeria Donnarumma & Giacomo Grandini ego gallery

[email protected]

Facebook Page: ego gallery https://twitter.com/egogallery

ego gallery, Via Luigi Canonica 9, CH-6900 - Rough Dreams

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