Contaminazione - FB
“Contamination”, curated by Cécile Angelini with a scenography by Sergio Mazzoni, from June 24 to July 24 2020 at the COVID Hospital – OGR, ASL City of Turin; October 29, 2021 at the Florence Biennale – soon in other places in Italy and abroad.
With Tonatiuh Ambrosetti & mvt/architectes, Marc Angeli, ANTILIA gallery, Pascale Barret, Florent Bellamy, Barbara Bergaglio, Melania Berlen, Valerio Berruti, Big Mountain County, Project Marta, Giulio Caresio, Ermanno Cavaliere, Noëlle Clou, Céline Cuvelier, Lieven De Boeck, Hannah De Corte, Gian Giacomo Della Porta, Enrico Ferrarini, Maurizio Ferraris, Michel François, Mario García Torres, Régis Gonzalez, Francesco Granieri, Ezio Gribaudo, Paola Gribaudo, Giorgio Griffa, Lotta Hannerz, Marie Hume, Paolo Inverni, Dominique Loreau , Astrid Malingreau, Gianluigi Maria Masucci, Maxime Matthys, SelçukMutlu and Lola Zefi, Nero / Alessandro Neretti, Elena Pelosi, Marie-Françoise Plissart, Barbara Polla, Paolo Robino, Fabrice Samyn, Fabrizio Santona, Alessandro Saturno, Agnès Thurnauer, David Tremlett , Fabio Viale, Dario Voltolini, Peter Wüthrich, Silvio Zamorani.
«What happens when 48 artists, writers, poets, musicians and art professionals (editors, archivists, framers, curators) from all over the world are asked to create a work dedicated to artistic contamination? The idea was born in February 2020, shortly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: “What if we propose an exhibition dedicated to another type of contamination?” In art, contamination is synonymous with freedom: freedom to engage in dialogue with works from the past, to create works with multiple voices, to mix heterogeneous elements; freedom not to be assigned to a fixed category. An emancipatory hybridization between artists, currents, disciplines, means and materials, that is characteristic of contemporary art. The exhibition was designed for the patients and staff of the COVID-19 Hospital housed in the “Officine GrandiRiparazioni” contemporary art museum of Turin. Two video installations were created and broadcasted in loop, simultaneously, in the “red zone” occupied by the patients, and in the “yellow zone” intended for hospital staff. The idea was to bring two worlds closer together and to create an artistic contamination between patients and doctors – who had emphasized how difficult it was not to be able to see and touch each other due to the uniforms and health measures adopted. A year later, the original and innovative contributions in the exhibition are still relevant from an artistic and societal point of view.
It would be impossible to present each of the 48 workson display – or to highlight all the nuances of the notion of “Contamination” in art. A strong idea arises from the contributions: there is no “pure” reality or uncontaminated gaze: the artist, even when working alone, is inspired by the works of others and various traditions; even the viewer looks with the eyes of others. Art is an intrinsically contaminated reality – and fortunately for us human beings in search of happiness and inspiration, also very contagious!»
Cécile Angelini
With Tonatiuh Ambrosetti & mvt/architectes, Marc Angeli, ANTILIA gallery, Pascale Barret, Florent Bellamy, Barbara Bergaglio, Melania Berlen, Valerio Berruti, Big Mountain County, Project Marta, Giulio Caresio, Ermanno Cavaliere, Noëlle Clou, Céline Cuvelier, Lieven De Boeck, Hannah De Corte, Gian Giacomo Della Porta, Enrico Ferrarini, Maurizio Ferraris, Michel François, Mario García Torres, Régis Gonzalez, Francesco Granieri, Ezio Gribaudo, Paola Gribaudo, Giorgio Griffa, Lotta Hannerz, Marie Hume, Paolo Inverni, Dominique Loreau , Astrid Malingreau, Gianluigi Maria Masucci, Maxime Matthys, SelçukMutlu and Lola Zefi, Nero / Alessandro Neretti, Elena Pelosi, Marie-Françoise Plissart, Barbara Polla, Paolo Robino, Fabrice Samyn, Fabrizio Santona, Alessandro Saturno, Agnès Thurnauer, David Tremlett , Fabio Viale, Dario Voltolini, Peter Wüthrich, Silvio Zamorani.
«What happens when 48 artists, writers, poets, musicians and art professionals (editors, archivists, framers, curators) from all over the world are asked to create a work dedicated to artistic contamination? The idea was born in February 2020, shortly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: “What if we propose an exhibition dedicated to another type of contamination?” In art, contamination is synonymous with freedom: freedom to engage in dialogue with works from the past, to create works with multiple voices, to mix heterogeneous elements; freedom not to be assigned to a fixed category. An emancipatory hybridization between artists, currents, disciplines, means and materials, that is characteristic of contemporary art. The exhibition was designed for the patients and staff of the COVID-19 Hospital housed in the “Officine GrandiRiparazioni” contemporary art museum of Turin. Two video installations were created and broadcasted in loop, simultaneously, in the “red zone” occupied by the patients, and in the “yellow zone” intended for hospital staff. The idea was to bring two worlds closer together and to create an artistic contamination between patients and doctors – who had emphasized how difficult it was not to be able to see and touch each other due to the uniforms and health measures adopted. A year later, the original and innovative contributions in the exhibition are still relevant from an artistic and societal point of view.
It would be impossible to present each of the 48 workson display – or to highlight all the nuances of the notion of “Contamination” in art. A strong idea arises from the contributions: there is no “pure” reality or uncontaminated gaze: the artist, even when working alone, is inspired by the works of others and various traditions; even the viewer looks with the eyes of others. Art is an intrinsically contaminated reality – and fortunately for us human beings in search of happiness and inspiration, also very contagious!»
Cécile Angelini
