Anti-gifts

Adolf Hitler portrait gift

Color photograph and stainless steel bow

Sleeve

Insignia on sleeve and stainless steel bow

Benito Mussolini portrait gift

Color photograph and stainless steel bow

Josef Stalin portrait gift

Color photograph and stainless steel bow

Loving and caring, A. Hitler and family

Color photograph and stainless steel bow

Loving and caring, B. Mussolini and family

Color photograph and stainless steel bow

Loving and caring, Josef Stalin and daughter Svetlana Allilouieva

Color photograph and stainless steel bow

Sleeve

Insignia on sleeve and stainless steel bow

Adolf Hitler'Mein Kampf gift

Book under glass and stainless steel bow

Nazi flag gift

Flag and stainless steel bow

Vel' d'Hiv' souvenir gift

C-print and stainless steel bow

Context

About the project

The Anti-gifts series is one facet of "Pandemonium of Versatile Objects".

The Anti-gifts series plays on the symbolism of the gift "that cannot be given ." It comprises portraits (as in the series "Loving and caring" for example) of abject characters involved in dramas that have marked contemporary history.

The ensemble thus presents a series of provocative works of aesthetic beauty without, however, any moral ambiguity on the part of the artist. The work intentionally plays on the intrinsic contradiction between the theme approached and the 'wrapped' object.

"Pandemonium of Versatile Objects"

Laurent La Gamba’s most recent project is a series of sculptures/installations. Entitled Pandemonium of Versatile Objects this project explores mass production and consumerism and the role they play in formulating memories and identity, through the visual coding of celebratory gift bows.

The Pandemonium of Versatile Objects series began in 2016 and is divided into several chapters. It plays on the precariousness, the obsolescence of objects and their possible regeneration through art. Producing a highly aestheticized and tuned down vision made of glossy paper and shiny ribbons, which often evoke both childhood and pleasure but also mass production and consumer society at large; this project also, depending on the works, conveys a deep feeling of embarrassment and discomfort (e.g "Anti-gifts series" or "Mourning bows series").