Allouche Gallery is pleased to present Brad Downey: Melania and the Broken Feedback Loop curated by Marko Vivoda. The installation features the original wood Melania sculpture, carved out of a poplar tree by a local Slovenian chainsaw sculptor and installed in Sevnica, Slovenia, the town in which Melania Trump was born. The original sculpture, subsequently burned one year to the day it was installed by unknown individuals, was deinstalled and cared for by Downey and the local community while plans were made the install a replacement sculpture. The exhibition will also feature four different iterations of the Melania sculpture in plastic, plaster, bronze and silicone, as well as two films. The first film, Melania, documents the construction of the sculpture by amateur chainsaw sculptor Maxi as well as examines the dichotomies between Maxi’s life trajectory and that of Melania Trumps. The second film, a continuous loop of press feedback, clippings and interviews, highlights the global reaction to Downey’s work and the meaning of the Melania sculpture juxtaposed against the current state of politics in the United States.
