In Ben Lerner’s short story “The Ferry,” an erroneous voicemail from a stranger turns the protagonist’s world upside down – meaning drains from his daily routines while the city’s objects gain new poetic significance. The correspondence begins a chain of strange vexations: And seeing signs is a sign, as in: I emerged from the train at Bryant Park and there, on the corner of Sixth Avenue, was a pile of broken silvered glass along the curb. The fragments still worked. What you need to do is resist seeing pattern where there is none, said a reasonable voice. But hearing voices is a sign, I joked to myself. You can’t function when everything takes on meaning. The sense that everything that happens happens on cue, a sudden shower of ginkgo leaves. That a message has been left for you. Partners, Kim Fisher and Florian Morlat, present a pairing at Gattopardo. Each artist’s works were made separately and come together here for the first time. The show’s title evokes a similar unexpected encounter as Lerner’s story – perhaps a new intimacy on the line, or a delicious tension. Or more humorously a conversation ender: I’m sorry. Wrong number. There is a connection between the artists’ use of economical or ubiquitous materials. Fisher’s stucco and masonry sections respond directly to the built environment of Los Angeles, while Morlat’s use of paper bags and cardboard refers more to the interior and disposable. Fisher cuts and crops familiar material into new vignettes, somewhat recognizable but now a little mysterious. Conversely, Morlat’s materials are chopped and pulled into legibility – the outline of a vessel, a kitchen knife, a bottle of wine. There is an epicurean spirit to these works which contrasts with the more spartan or frugal nature of Fisher’s compositions. Both artists share an interest in dynamic shapes – almost suggesting movement – and together their works show a range of color from Morlat’s tertiary hues to Fisher’s buzzing chromatics. There is a choreography between their fragments and synchronicities gradually emerge. Seeing signs is a sign.

– Calum Sutherland