The glitzy Sardinian seaside resort of Porto Cervo, built in the 1960s by the British business magnate Prince Karim Aga Khan as a playground for the jet-set elite, is perhaps the last place one would think to stage an exhibition critiquing the failings of First World consumerism. And yet, for the Turkish duo Yasemin Baydar and Briol Demir, otherwise known as mentalKLINIK, the backdrop of over-the-top displays of wealth for which Porto Cervo is famous serves as the perfect counterpoint to their exhibition “83%SatisfactionGuaranteed,” at Louise Alexander Gallery through July 26. Incorporating several sculptures as well as in situ textile and looped-video installations, works in the show touch upon themes of excess, as well as the perceived vapidity that accompanies it. As with several wall-mounted sculptures including Airless 1503 and Airless 1508 (all works 2015), mentalKLINIK transform cartoonish inflatable pool toys and balloons into objects of acute breathlessness. Marked by an industrial process whereby liquid-copper copies are made of the uninflated blow-ups, which are then painstakingly hand-painted to resemble their plastic originals, the compressed visages of goofy yellow ducks and smiling pink cats take on a sardonic air of, well, heightened deflation. For the large-scale framed installation Darkmatters, the artists combined high-grade resins with aubergine-colored sequins, pouring the concoction over a horizontal base and spreading it with a brush before leaving it to set and then hanging it vertically. The result is a lambent, undulating vista that looks as saccharine as it does menacing. All that glitters is not gold indeed. Continuing with their theme of sweets, the wall-to-wall carpet installation CandyCrash incorporates a densely layered motif of cellophane-wrapped confectionary. Symbolically linking the meretricious enclave of Porto Cervo to the gaudy displays of Las Vegas, the installed carpet was produced by manufacturers who cater exclusively to Sin City, the installation’s title mordantly riffing upon the addictive puzzle-game app.Meanwhile, in the mirrored, text-based installation Emma, Baydar and Demir incorporate words — jezebel, eloper, swaloer, among them — culled from Internet searches of popular hashtags and trending slang. Cut from pellucid solar-sensitive film and then applied to the mirrored surface, the terms selected, laden with cultural meaning, become acutely transparent. While at first caught up in reading the text, the viewer becomes aware of their reflection bounded by the phrases before them. An uncomplicated conceit, the artistic duo makes clear the connection they see between everyday, often negative appellations and the ways in which they are imposed upon us. To that end, in a town that values appearances, mentalKLINIK manage to scratch just beneath the surface. —Joseph AkelA version of this article appears in the October issue of Modern Painters magazine.
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