Hus Gallery is delighted to present ISO 9001, the first solo exhibition in the UK by Berlin based artist Santiago Taccetti (b. 1974, Buenos Aires, Argentina). Featuring new works from Taccetti’s all white, reverse-painting series, ISO 9001 encourages viewers to focus upon the criteria that an artwork must possess in order to be considered as “art”. The exhibition title plays on the certified quality management system used by companies seeking to prove their ability to provide consistent products and services. In this context, an “industry standard” is reconsidered as an examination of the qualities which both the artist and the art object must possess in order to pass the “International Organization for Standardization.”

Taccetti is interested in eliminating all external visual references from his work, and focusing on the fundamental properties of his chosen materials. He utilizes specific materials in his artworks for their chemical composition, and for how they interact with each other within his chosen framework. By deferring to these indeterminable interactions, which in turn leads to unforeseen physical forms, Taccetti uses chemical reactions to undermine traditional notions of authorship. He sets the physical and conceptual parameters for the work of art to exist rather than acting as the sole creator of the finished product – and by doing so, he reduces his own agency and foregrounds collaboration and chance. As a result, the paintings in this series manifest the truest “reality” because they are free of any signs or signifiers; through their pureness of form and concept they can only ever refer back themselves. The canvases do not declare any theory or figuration, but the process of their creation. Subtle details refer back to the materials used; for example, the chemical composition of the paint is engraved along the side of the artist’s aluminum frames. The title of the series, Einstatzbereich Innen-Außen, is taken from the type of everyday multi-purpose acrylic paint used in the paintings, and can be loosely translated as “indoor-outdoor.” Thus, the original intention or material capability of the elements in use is inextricably tied to reading of the finished work.

Exhibited together, these paintings reference a factory production line. Each one perfectly executed and finished and then branded on the edge of the frame as the final seal of approval. The mark of excellence acts as both the artist’s and the material’s “signature.” However, although the artist superficially mimics the process of product standardization, each work is highly unique. Every time Taccetti sets the parameters for a painting to exist, certain uncontrollable external factors like time and climate are at play making any predetermined output impossible. Taccetti’s practice thrives on this tension between the planned and random elements that occur during the investigative process. In the process of creating an artwork, there is always the turning point where what was imagined or initially planned by the artist breaks away from what is actually being created. Even without this allowance for randomness, it is impossible to physically depict exactly what the mind conceives. Taccetti is simply magnifying this breaking point, and in doing so has created a series of paintings which can perhaps best described as seductive explorations into technique, texture and surface.

Santiago Taccetti studied at the Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de Mexico where he graduated in 2000. Taccetti has exhibited widely throughout Europe and the US, with recent exhibitions including: GRIDS, Gillmeier Rech Gallery, Berlin (2015); About Sculpture #4, Galerie Rolando Anselmi, Berlin (2015); Reboot Horizon, Cell Project Space, London (2014); Sunbathers II, 1857 Gallery, Oslo (2014); Space Age, Hus Gallery, London (2014). Santiago recently completed the prestigious ISCP residency in New York (2014), as well as at Art Omi, the Black & White Project Space, and the Watermill Center Summer Residency, all in New York.