Nicolo Gentile
is an artist living and working in Philadelphia, PA. He received his Master of Fine Art in Sculpture at The Tyler School of Art and Architecture of Temple University and his undergraduate degree in General Fine Arts from the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Victorian College of Art. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in Philadelphia, New York, Portland, Los Angeles, Paris, and Melbourne. He currently teaches at the Tyler School of Art and has guest lectured at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and Portland State University.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I wish my PrEP medication made me feel like I was taking part in something, but so far it has only softened my bowels.
This is not the fire in my belly I had anticipated.
My work is an investigation of presence, absence and ecstasy. From the gym to the showers, from the dancefloor to the bedroom, I examine the physical conditions of relational identity and sexuality construction. Inspired by politically motivated 1990s abstraction responding to the AIDS epidemic, my work looks to reclaim the critical capacity of the queer minimalist gesture in a time of gay pragmatism, assimilation, and continued alienation.
I am inspired by the materials, histories and conditions of queer transgression which inform my sculpture and installations. Composed of leather, latex, iron and steel, my sculptures slip between recognizable materials of kink, industry and sport to address the oscillating power dynamics of gender and masculinities.
GOODSPORT : GAME FOR ANYTHING
Life is too short to play by the rules. At GoodSport™, this is what moves us. As a creative enterprise, we aim to create an alternative physical and psychological reality that complicates contemporary expressions of health and masculinity through the production of sports-based art objects as luxury goods. We are inspired by a triple threat of aesthetics, (homo)eroticism, and athletics.
The GoodSport™ is a collection of objects constructed under environmental and social considerations similar to those imposed on the athletic, queer, male body. They aim to perform within the confines of multiple realities of masculinity simultaneously. In doing so, these objects queer, obfuscate, redefine and obstruct a linear legibility of gender and aesthetics. The objects reside at the intersection of their functional use, excellent performativity, and aesthetic worth. But, to which arena do they actually belong?