The Dark Side - Who is afraid of the Dark?

Christian Boltanski, Monica Bonvicini, Monster Chetwynd, Gino De Dominicis, Gianni Dessì, Flavio Favelli, Sheela Gowda, James Lee Byars, Robert Longo, Hermann Nitsch, Tony Oursler, Gregor Schneider, Chiharu Shiota

Curated by Danilo Eccher

Musja, the exhibition space in via dei Chiavari 7 in Rome presided over by Ovidio Jacorossi, becomes a private museum with the opening on October 9 of Who is afraid of the Dark?, the first exhibition within The Dark Side project, a three year programme curated by Danilo Eccher.

The vast art collection owned by Jacorossi, covering the period from the early 19th century Italian to the present, will be flanked by the most innovative contemporary trends in the international panorama in order to highlight the fundamental contribution of art to personal and collective growth. The new museum also sets out to become established as a focus for the development of civil society in Rome, and to carry forward cultural commitment, and dialogue with international public and private institutions and museums.

The complex thematic setting of The Dark Side project is organized into three exhibitions spread over three years, and dedicated to: “Fear of the Dark,” “Fear of Solitude,” and “Fear of Time.” The first event in the new exhibition programme—“Fear of the Dark”—brings together 13 of the most important international artists with large site-specific installations and large-scale artworks by established artists, such as Gregor Schneider, Robert Longo, Hermann Nitsch, Tony Oursler, Christian Boltanski, James Lee Byars as well as new protagonists on the contemporary art scene such as Monster Chetwynd, Sheela Gowda, and Chiharu Shiota. There is a substantial Italian component with works and installations by Gino De Dominicis, Gianni Dessì, Flavio Favelli, Monica Bonvicini. During the opening of the exhibition, and thereafter at monthly intervals, there will be a performance by “Differenziale Femminile,” a group of four actresses, in the rooms of the gallery.

The majority of the site-specific works will be produced especially for the exhibition, while others are loans from various institutions, galleries and some others are part of the Jacorossi collection. All of them were selected for their power to draw the viewer in and encourage reflection on the topic while, at the same time, introducing some essential aspects of current contemporary art research. Visitors will be able to analyse their own reactions to sensory and tactile experiences, theatrical and magical visions, rituals and settings, anxieties that take different and unexpected forms only to melt away.

The catalogue accompanying the exhibition, published by Silvana Editoriale, contains a wealth of images by all the participating artists as well as written contributions. In addition to Danilo Eccher’s contribution, there are also some intellectually complex views on the theme of the dark by theologian Gianfranco Ravasi, theoretical physicist Mario Rasetti, psychiatrist Eugenio Borgna and philosopher Federico Vercellone. Different points of view, cross-cutting approaches, intellectual fields that diverge, overlap and are interwoven, give the project much greater scope than a standard art exhibition.

In the course of the exhibition, Musja will also be holding a series of meetings on the theme, coordinated by Federico Vercellone, professor of Aesthetics in the Department of Philosophy at Turin University.