Disappear here, Museo Villa dei Cedri, Bellinzona, CH
Built around 1860, Villa dei Cedri recounts three centuries of history, from a preindustrial society to a globalised world. In the exhibition Disappear Here, 16 artists question from their contemporary perspective the values to which the former residence bears witness. Through visions of decadence and critiques of a bygone way of life, the sequence of paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, video works and installations, highlights the concerns of a generation marked by decline, but also by a strength derived from struggle and hope.
Exhibition curated by Rolando Bassetti, Director of the Centre d’art contemporain Yverdon-les-Bains.
With Marc Bauer, Noémie Doge, Matthieu Gafsou, Patricia Glave, Maëlle Gross, Shannon Guerrico, Benoît Jeannet, Romy Colombe. K, Lucie Kohler, Xénia Lucie Laffely, Line Marquis, Anita Mucolli, Maya Rochat, Paul Rousteau, Caroline Tschumi and Paulo Wirz.
March 18 – August 20, 2023
Museo Villa dei Cedri
Venere, 2023, quadrichromie print on non-woven carpet, 300 x 480 cm
In prehistoric times, it was worn as an adornment, a symbol of power and rebirth, a good luck charm. It was also a container for the ochre pigments used to decorate caves. In ancient times, it was worn to combat witchcraft. In the Middle Ages, it became a rallying sign for pilgrims to Compostelle. By turns tool, talisman and symbol, the scallop shell also became an evocation of femininity, fertility and love, as illustrated by Botticielli’s famous Birth of Venus.
This proposal is a ricochet of the shells visible on the façade of Villa dei Cedri. It brings a new scale to the room, highlighting emptiness, inducing absence.
Far from any preconception, it is an invitation to embody a new ideal.