I Won’t Last A Day Without You

October 3 - December 5, 2020 | Melanie Flood Projects, Portland, OR

Artist:

Pacifico Silano

Overview: 

In I Won’t Last A Day Without You, Pacifico Silano presents new work from his ongoing series of photo collages that draw from gay erotica magazines published after the Stonewall riots (1969) and through the height of the AIDS epidemic (late 1980s). Silano has created these works as stand-in memorials for the individuals depicted upon the pages of the sourced magazines, as well as for those who consumed their image.

This solo exhibition of Silano’s work was curated by Yaelle S. Amir for Melanie Flood Projects in Portland, OR.

about the exhibition:

In I Won’t Last A Day Without You, Pacifico Silano presents new work from his ongoing series of photo collages that draw from gay erotica magazines published after the Stonewall riots (1969) and through the height of the AIDS epidemic (late 1980s). Layering snippets of desert views with forest flora, tulle with roses, a face, an arm, a shadow—these fragments serve to soften the outlandish performative aspects of male desire commonly found in their source material, and offer instead a tender, quiet and fragile expression of masculinity. The resulting works communicate poetic moments that are embedded with a deep sense of melancholy reflective of the era from which the images were derived. Rather than fantasy and satisfaction, the onlooker now contends with feelings of emptiness and sorrow.

The purpose and materiality of Silano’s work stems from a highly personal position. Born during the peak of the AIDS crisis to a family who ran an adult novelty store, Silano lost his uncle due to complications from HIV. Yet the shame associated with his uncle’s sexuality and the stigma surrounding the disease led to his family’s erasure of his memory. With that experience serving as a catalyst, Silano has created these works as stand-in memorials for the individuals depicted upon the pages of the sourced magazines, as well as for those who consumed their image. As contemporary interpretations of archival materials, the works candidly hold within them the past and future—demonstrating acutely how a photograph can evolve its meaning and context as culture gains new understanding of history.

About the Artist:

Pacifico Silano is a lens-based artist whose work is an exploration of print culture, the circulation of imagery and LGBTQ identity. He received his MFA in Photography, Video & Related Media from the School of Visual Arts. His work has been included in group exhibitions at the Bronx Museum; Tacoma Art Museum; Oude Kerk, Amsterdam; and Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City. He has had solo shows at Baxter ST@CCNY, The Bronx Museum of the Arts Block Gallery, Rubber-Factory, Stellar Projects, NYC and Fragment Gallery, Moscow. Reviews of his work have appeared in The New Yorker, Artforum and The Washington Post. Awards include the Aaron Siskind Foundation Fellowship, NYFA Fellowship in Photography, and being a Finalist for the Aperture Foundation Portfolio Prize. In the Fall of 2020 he will have a solo show at The Houston Center for Photography and be included in the exhibition Fantasy America at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His work is in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art.

PRESS:

Bean Gilsdorf, “Wide Open Spaces: Pacifico Silano Emancipates his Gay Erotica,” Momus, published November 16, 2020.

Lindsay Costello, “Review: Pacifico Silano: I Won’t Last a Day Without You,” Art & About PDX, published December 16, 2020.