Pablo Bronstein: We Live in Mannerist Times April 15–August 23, 2015
Pablo Bronstein, view of Minton China Factory in We Live in Mannerist Times, 2015, ink and watercolor on paper in artist frame, courtesy of the artist and Galleria Franco Noero, Turin. Photo of drawing: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano
Pablo Bronstein, Chelsea Porcelain Factory, 2015, ink and watercolor on paper in artist frame, courtesy of the artist and Galleria Franco Noero, Turin. Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano
Pablo Bronstein, Lowestoft Porcelain Factory, 2015, ink and watercolor on paper in artist frame, courtesy of the artist and Galleria Franco Noero, Turin. Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano
Pablo Bronstein, Wedgwood Factory, 2015, ink and watercolor on paper in artist frame, courtesy of the artist and Galleria Franco Noero, Turin. Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano
Worcester Porcelain Manufactory, Teapot and Cover, c. 1805, soft-paste porcelain, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Rienzi Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harris Masterson III.
Artist Pablo Bronstein uses architecture as a means to engage with the power of history, monuments, and the built environment. Adopting the styles of a historical spectrum of architects and movements, from Neoclassical designer Sir John Soane to Modern master Aldo Rossi, Bronstein creates elaborate drawings of structures and devices that serve as plausible inventions. His art both pays homage to and critiques the iconic emblems of architectural legacy.
Born in Argentina in 1977, Bronstein lives and works in London. He draws inspiration from machines developed and used during the Industrial Revolution to manufacture mass-produced goods, as well as for fine porcelain objects.
We Live in Mannerist Times showcases a series of Bronstein's monumental line drawings and delicate architectural renderings. In this installation, detailed black-on-white drawings printed on vinyl stretch from ceiling to floor, forming a two-dimensional architecture. Inspired by late-18th- and early-19th-century renderings, the cast-iron columns and beams depicted recall Liverpool Street Station in London. They comprise a sequence of images of machines and details, many derived from the steam engine, which was the most advanced technology of the time.
At intervals throughout the gallery, these serial drawings of gears and cross-sections of machines are interrupted by seven ink-and-watercolor drawings in gilded frames. The fantastical architectural renderings evoke the designs of Wedgwood, Minton, Worcester, and other popular 18th- and 19th-century English porcelain factories. Complementing the renderings are selected porcelains from the Rienzi Collection, providing a three-dimensional context for the drawings.