Workshops as Still Lifes

Jacquie Maria Wessels' meticulously composed series, ‘Garage Stills’, will be on view at the PAN (Palazzo dell'Arte Napoli) in Naples until January 13, 2022. To create her project, Wessels went in search of traditional car repair shops around the world. Fascinated by the shapes and colours of the mysterious objects she found in these unfamiliar environments, she turned them into poetic still lifes – and, with the focused gaze of an outsider, captured the last remnants of a slowly disappearing reality.

In the age of computerisation, garages are increasingly turning into ‘non-places’. Wessels’ photographs, on the other hand, allow the viewer to imagine the presence of those working among the disorderly clutter of mechanical objects and tools. At the same time, the artist presents a female view of a quintessentially masculine world. Instead of contemplating a patriarchal matrix, she appropriates these spaces with precision and ease – thereby showing a reality that goes far beyond the physical environments she portrays.

The exhibition was curated by Marina Guida. Visitors to the Palazzo dell’Arte Napoli (PAN) are kindly asked to present a ‘Green Pass’.

For further information visit Palazzo dell’Arte Napoli and Jacquie Maria Wessels