Guns and Roses, London

Italian-born artist Guido Mocafico has long captivated with his painstaking photographs, and this month, the Wallpaper* contributor continues in kind, with an exhibition of new work at West London’s Hamiltons Gallery.

Entitled ‘Guns & Roses’, Mocafico has left little to the imagination for his latest showing. Featuring a series of large-format, high-colour chromogenic prints of guns (produced between 2006 and 2008) and a series of bouquets shot last year, the two collections – despite the overt juxtaposition – work in disconcerting counterpoint.

Fascinated by the technical mastery of man-made objects, Mocafico shot ‘Guns’ with a view to highlight the visceral functionality of the object. Bringing to mind his ‘Movement’ series of 2006 – which featured a selection of close-up wristwatch movements – Mocafico claims that ‘each gun takes on a life of its own, here I find poetry meeting technology.’

Similarly, Mocafico’s ‘Roses’ - shot from above and inspired by Renoir's 'Bouquet dans une Loge' - capture the man-made order of a meticulously organized, giant bouquet - blood red and bristling with below-the-surface energy. A powerful effect in the face of Mocafico's outsized firearms.

On show until the end of February at Hamiltons, Mocafico’s ‘Guns and Roses’ has a short shelf life, so don’t delay.

We caught up with Guido Mocafico on his flying visit to London this week. Click here to read our interview with the man himself.

26 January 2010 | Art