Whitehot Magazine

A Chair is a Chair is a Chair: Drawings by Mario Navarro at Galerie Kitsuné

Mario Navarro, Id Est (Cone), 2022. Colored pencil on pulp-dyed paper, 8 ¾ x 11 ¼ framed.

A Chair is a Chair is a Chair: Drawings by Mario Navarro

Galerie Kitsuné 

March 17 through April 3, 2022

Curated by Balcony Magazine

By DARYL RASHAAN KING, April 2022

Culture plays a noteworthy role in shaping the emotions of a person. It has a great influence on how the person reacts to a situation. Dander is one part of the world that may negatively impact someone's life by challenging the roots and definition of their personality. The network of people around a person, to a certain degree, can impact the way that someone cogitates. It allows feelings to bear their manifestation. The inherent value structure of a specific culture is the definition of how human beings respond to their local environment and habitat. It is quite hard these days to start a lifestyle brand that can successfully create a culture around a company. However, this is something that Maison Kitsuné has done since the fashion company expanded to hosting accessible high fashion parties and events across downtown New York City, at some of the most exclusive venues. The company then opened its cafes, now followed by its first art gallery: Galerie Kitsuné. The new gallery will focus on emerging artists, with no specific medium in mind. Galerie Kitsuné is located in Boerum Hill, Downtown Brooklyn. Galerie Kitsuné will ultimately influence the development of Brooklyn, simply by being around. Kitsuné is a unique brand because it focuses on fostering an intellectual dialogue and discussion amongst its community. 

Mario Navarro, Id Est (Bulb 2), 2022. Colored pencil on pulp-dyed paper, 8 ¾ x 11 ¼ framed.

Kim Kardashian was recently mocked across social media for telling other women in business to work hard. Most of them overlook how she advised others to surround themselves with the right people. The idea of finding the right group, as a means of achieving better development, is a much healthier perspective that allows chaos to reign supreme. The first exhibition at the gallery will feature the work of multimedia artist Mario Navarro, The biannual arts and culture publication balcony will also partake in the exhibition. Gildas Loaëc, co-founder of Kitsuné emphasized that it was the next step in the grand evolution of the business. Being able to engage other creators and recognize them as creative individuals. Kitsuné was first started in 2002 by Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki. It now functions as an amalgamation of a fashion brand (Maison Kitsuné), music label (Kitsuné Musique), coffee shops, bars and restaurants (Café Kitsuné), and art galleries (Galerie Kitsuné). The future program will also feature Good Fucking Design Advice, Conrad Clifton, Thandiwe Muriu, Pepo Moreno, and imruh asha. Generations of human beings have grown up estranged from nature. As opposed to focusing on nature and the effect that our daily lives have on nature, human beings have become generally exploitative. 

Mario Navarro, Id Est (Tennis 2), 2022. Colored pencil on pulp-dyed paper, 8 ¾ x 11 ¼ framed.

In the series of ten new drawings, Navarro questions that aspect of contemporary human culture, through Michael Thonet’s Chair No. 14., aka the bistro chair. The "precarity of Modernism” allowed Navarro to create visual conflict between the woven-cane seat, objects, and body parts. “Appropriation, consumption, and permanence” are also three of his principal subjects, which are coincidentally some of the key factors that made many doctors realize that some people have unrecognized mental health issues. It became obvious that having a social life and being active amongst one’s normal community contributes to the general health of an individual. One of the reasons why it is difficult to cure mental illness is because the person in question is reacting to circumstances. Their response can be either based on hereditary lineage or developed chaotic brain functions, which start with the parenting of the baby. The ideal parent is seeking to raise an individual that understands the meaning and purpose of the civic space in which they live. Navarro's work is centered on "issues of perception and matter/materials, relations between architectures and forms and the decomposition of architectural paradigms (balance, symmetry and the figure of the architect)…." His research on innovators, such as Le Corbusier, Luis Barragán, or Michael Thonet, focuses on how the legacy of their work has infused popular culture. WM 

Daryl Rashaan King

Daryl Rashaan King currently works as a Teaching Artist with Leap NYC; a Chef de Partie at CUT by Wolfgang Puck, The Four Seasons Tribeca; and the Vice President of the Asian American Film Lab. He is the founder/ principal of kokuoroi, a multidisciplinary creative studio. The studio focuses on problems derived from urban living, viewed through the perspective of King, a Brooklyn native. A graduate of Columbia University, who originally specialized in painting, some of King’s goals include obtaining both an M. Arch and an Expert Diploma in Culinary Arts. He would also like to pursue various art and design programs and to live abroad. King has already earned certificates from Parsons in Streetwear; completed part of the Sustainable Design Foundation at Pratt Institute; and volunteered in Cusco, Peru at the construction site of a new Lower School. His work has greatly evolved since taking an Information Architecture course focused on Future Cities, hosted by the Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich. A former varsity wrestler, King has hopes of learning and practicing new martial arts. When he isn’t working, enjoying music, or playing video games, King’s focus is on the future.

view all articles from this author