KATE GROOBEY
An essay by Maria Villa - Ribot Gallery (2019)
Assholes of Ambition
Groobey’s diverse practice ranges from two-dimensional painting to the animated vitality of performance, bringing to life the characters from her painting through a series of improvised sketches for which she devises the costumes, settings, and music.
Her visit, together with her partner and muse, the writer Jina Khayyer, to the famous Sanjusangendo temple in Kyoto, was the inspirational source for this transversal project. Thanks to her journey to Japan, Groobey discovered the Dea della Misericordia dalle 1000 braccia, the thousand - armed goddess: in other words, Senju Kannon, the ultimate female “multitasker” who, with her innumerable limbs, holds aloft a series of objects of great symbolic value, among which are some objects for defence: an arrow, a bell, a mirror, and a moon.
And it is this very theme of protection that lies at the centre of the Assholes of Ambition series which was inspired by the events that happened last year to her muse Jina Khayyer, events that raised a question that is as complex as it is fascinating: what are the tools that a woman needs to protect or even save herself?
In the paintings on show, all characterised by a strong narrative sense, there cohabit contrasting and recurrent symbols such as hearts, which are metaphors for compassion and empathy, and bolts of lightning, which are the emblems of power and strength. There are also references to wisdom, protection, and power, here represented by a large pencil, an owl, the sun, the moon, and the stars.
The Assholes of Ambition series also reflects on some ambivalent motifs and images with a double value: examples are the arrows and the encircling hands that might refer as much to a protective force as to an external attack. It is from this subtle ambiguity that there come about further thoughts and a second question: does the greatest menace come from within or without?