François Ghebaly is pleased to present Patrizio di Massimo’s “Close at Hand,” the Italian-born, London-based artist’s first exhibition with the gallery. An opening reception was  held on May 22, 2021.

François Ghebaly Gallery view, Patrizio di Massimo

A bespectacled and bath-robed mother is twisted up on the couch, wincing in agony as her daughter grips her robe collar with one hand, the other raised and ready to— strike? Maybe. On second look the daughter’s open palm looks more like a jazz hand than anything else. Suddenly the initial violence of the scene takes on a theatrical irony. Are we seeing a mother and daughter playing out a vicious Oedipal relationship, or are we seeing a mother and daughter just…playing?

The idiom “close at hand” describes anything nearby, physically within reach. Its connotation is one of ease, convenience, accessibility. Those fortunate enough to be quarantined with their loved ones close at hand eventually found such proximity to be anything but convenient, easy. The home became a pressure cooker for emotions that, for some, remained boiling under any number of tense and conflictual relationships, unexpectedly rising between friends, lovers, family, and peers.

For example, the figures in Mum’s Floral Robe are in fact the artist’s mother and sister, wrestling with ancient themes in jammies and sweats. In these pictures, as in life as of late, the universal is brought humbly, haltingly, down to earth.

On view: May 22 – June 19, 2021; CLICK HERE to make an appointment to attend the opening reception of visit the gallery after the opening; 

What: Opening Reception
Where: François Ghebaly, 2245 E Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90021 
Website: http://ghebaly.com