Act of God

Act of God (1), a two-channel video by Fin Simonetti, is on view at Matthew Brown New York Wednesday May 6 through Friday May 8 with a closing reception Friday, May 8 from 6-8pm. Act of God (1) by Fin Simonetti explores devotion, cruelty, and hierarchies of consciousness in an immersive two channel video installation. One channel depicts a monumental stained-glass cathedral window, the other simulates light filtering through it, slowly migrating across the room to suggest the passage of the sun. Within the panes of glass is footage the artist filmed at exotic pigeon shows across the US. In Act of God (1), we see men’s hands handling birds in gestures that oscillate between tenderness and barbarism. In the varied ways the men touch the pigeons, they enact both anthropomorphizing and objectifying gestures. Viewed simultaneously, these two lenses negate each other while pointing to the absence at the centre: the actual animal. While pigeons are usually assigned low status, in the exotic pigeon community they are fetishized, selectively bred for extreme genetic mutations. Sculpted over centuries, their bodies have become increasingly abstracted, beautified for the human eye. Through editing and collage, Simonetti continues this process of distortion/beautification, producing imagery that is increasingly unrecognizable from its source. In some scenes, kaleidoscopic wheels of feathers mirror biblical descriptions of angels. While the format of the cathedral window connects this piece to the artist’s work in stained glass, it also serves as an entry point into thinking about sentience hierarchies. If animals are below, God is above. Simonetti invokes our relationship to God as a context in which humans don’t position themselves at the apex of consciousness. Spaces of worship are designed to induce awe, producing a visceral sensation of our scale within a hierarchy. The title suggests both a sublime force beyond our control and humanity’s impulse to dominate nature (such as “playing God” by breeding flight out of a bird). Fin Simonetti (b. 1985, Vancouver) is a Canadian artist and musician based in New York. Simonetti received her BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2009. Solo exhibitions include Albion Jeune, London (forthcoming); Canada Goose, Cooper Cole, Toronto (2026), Hardening, Matthew Brown, Los Angeles (2023); Our Denomination, Cooper Cole, Toronto, Canada (2022); My Volition, Matthew Brown, Los Angeles (2021); Fin Simonetti: An Appeal to Heaven, alongside Louise Bourgeois and Chris Curreri, Esker Foundation, Calgary, Canada (2021); Head Gusset, Cooper Cole, Toronto (2019); Pledge, Company Gallery, New York (2019); Pastoral Emergency, SIGNAL, New York (2018); LIFEMORTS, Interstate Projects, New York (2017); and IS PATH WARM?, Good Weather, Little Rock, AK (2017). Group exhibitions include Prosthesis, Haynes Art Projects, Chicago (2023); Drawings by Sculptors, Helena Anrather, New York (2023); Second Best Scenario, Francesca Minini, Milan (2022); Summer Nights, curated by Kahil Irving, Canada, New York (2022); Summer Days, curated by Kahil Irving, Klaus von Nichtssagend, New York (2022); Concrete Spiritual, Morán Morán, Los Angeles (2022); Recent Sculpture, Matthew Brown, Los Angeles (2022); Realism of the Game, Tranzit, Bucharest, Romania (2021); Material Conditions, Matthew Brown, Los Angeles (2020); To dream a man, Clima, Milan (2020); Harvest, curated by Bob Linder, Slash Art, San Francisco (2020); Dog Days, Clearing, New York (2019); New Moon, Hotel Art Pavilion, New York (2019); Cerrajeria, Lock Up International, Mexico City (2018); Eye to Eye, Arsenal Contemporary, New York (2018); Altered, Company Gallery, New York (2018); At the End of the Game, Alyssa Davis Gallery, New York (2018); Pleasure Over Matter, The Space Company, San Francisco (2018); Fear Faire, Marinaro, New York (2018); The Belly & the Members, MX Gallery, New York (2018); Paperweights, Fisher Parrish, New York (2017); and Industry Woman, MoMA PS1, New York (2016), among others.