MNEMOSYNE’S DELAY

ROBILANT + VOENA, NEW YORK : 12 APRIL – 18 MAY, 2024

Robilant+Voena is pleased to announce our first solo exhibition of works by Sergio Roger, Mnemosyne’s Delay, presenting a selection of new sculptures. This exhibition, his first solo gallery show in the United States, brings together examples of Roger’s signature textile sculptures inspired by the art and architecture of ancient civilisations, here focusing on Classical busts of the Graeco-Roman era. The exhibition is divided into two sections, which together encapsulate the artist’s fascination with ancient representations of beauty and the divine. Further, the show challenges common interpretations of ancient civilisations, such as they are classified and presented in museums since the 19th century; this relates especially to the concept of Entzauberung (Disenchantment) as proposed by Friedrich Schiller and developed by Max Weber, which saw the devaluation of religious and mystic elements of societies, emptying the world from its transcendental meaning.

Through his beguiling sculptures, Roger evokes the vibrance and mystery of ancient cultures, in opposition to the ways in which these lost civilisations have been categorised and objectified by modern societies.  These works  pretend to connect us with a higher  understanding of nature, beyond the current capitalist vision of presenting  the world as as source of  resource extraction.

The title, Mnemosyne’s Delay, refers to a personal incident experienced by the artist, that in turn inspired this exhibition. In 2023, while returning from a trip to the island of Crete, Roger’s flight was delayed which meant he missed his connection, and had to spend an unplanned night in Vienna. During his time in the city, he visited the Kunsthistorisches Museum, where he encountered artefacts presented in a way that created a very different vision of the ancient past to that which he had experienced in Crete. This contrast between the mysterious and lived history of the ancient island that he had just visited, and the stark, clinically categorised history as presented within the galleries of the museum prompted the artist to explore how we commonly think of ancient history, and dismantle the rigid, neatly classified perception of the past as constructed by the Western Museum model.

In the exhibition, the artist challenges these fixed notions, instead inviting the viewer to re-engage with the magic and mythology of past civilisations. The first section of the exhibition, symbolising the modern classification of historical knowledge, presents a series of sculptural heads and busts, hand-crafted by the artist in a variety of textiles including antique linen and raw silk, and arranged on stainless steel plinths of varying heights. This arrangement, featuring mythological figures such as XXX and political personalities including XXX, alludes to the disenchantment of museum categorisation, with the sculptures removed from their original context, both physically and emotionally. The apparently familiar museum-style setting is destabilised through Roger’s subversive use of textiles, unpicking preconceived ideas surrounding the rigidity and fossil-like remains of ancient statuary.

Moving through these sculptures into the second room, the rationalised display of the works ends abruptly; instead, the darkened space contains a single, monumental artwork, the faceless head of Mnemosyne, lying on its side on the floor. A sense of discovery and mystery surrounds the disembodied head, emphasising the original ritualistic and emotive properties of ancient sculpture. Roger’s Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory in Ancient Greek culture, signifies the magical elements of archaic religions that were represented on earth by artist’s endeavours in painting and sculpture, its shadowy presence reminding the viewer of the importance of spiritualism and the unknown when imagining lost civilisations.

Within the journey of the exhibition, Roger’s technical mastery of the linen and other fabrics is visible in every stitch and detail, founded on deep investigation into historic craft techniques. Breathing fresh life into these antique materials, the artist transforms ancient models into characterful sculptures with contemporary significance, while honouring the timeless traditions of textile craft that provides the foundation for Roger’s artistic practice.