Rossella Biscotti
The future can only be for ghosts
31 January–25 May 2015
Museion Project Room Chiara Fumai: Der Hexenhammer
31 January–26 April 2015
Opening: Friday 30 January, 7pm
MUSEION of modern and contemporary art Bolzano
Via Dante 6 39100
Bolzano
Italy
Rossella Biscotti: The future can only be for ghosts
Curated by Letizia Ragaglia
The solo show, the artist’s first in an Italian museum, traces some of the key stages in her career, without being a retrospective. Biscotti has responded to Museion’s invitation by creating new works and presenting traces of existing pieces—the exhibition includes casts of the 2009 project Le Teste in Oggetto, five bronze heads of King Vittorio Emanuele III and Benito Mussolini produced in 1942 for the Universal Expo in Rome, subsequently cancelled, and The Prison of Santo Stefano (2011–13), tracings of parts of the floor and cells of the prison in Italy’s Pontine Island. The nature of the works reveals much about the art and modus operandi of Rossella Biscotti, whose recent interest in sculpture confirms her predilection for an open, progressive approach. All the pieces on display—videos, photographs and works on paper—have an undeniable socio-political component, but the exhibition also reveals how this is infused with an imaginative, evocative vision.
Viewers are elicited to explore these physical traces, activating their own sensations and emotions: engaging with Biscotti’s pieces gives key insights into how power structures and interpretations of history can condition us both physically and psychologically.
Rossella Biscotti (b. 1978, Molfetta, lives and works in Brussels), MAXXI prize winner (2010), took part in dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel in 2012 and the Venice Biennale (2013). For Museion the artist created a project on the concentration camp in Bolzano (2008) and took part in the group show The New Public (2012).
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue in three languages (Italian/English/German) with texts by Letizia Ragaglia, Chus Martinéz and a conversation between Rossella Biscotti and Cesare Pietroiusti.
Special thanks to: Consorzio Aureo, conservazione e Restauro
Chiara Fumai, Der Hexenhammer
Curated by Frida Carazzato
The project comprises two interlinked elements: a live performance and a work displayed in the Project Room. The performance takes the form of a guided tour of the Rossella Biscotti exhibition, which it is closely linked to. Visitors encounter the story and voice of the German journalist and terrorist Ulrike Meinhof, played by Chiara Fumai.
Der Hexenhammer embodies key elements of Fumai’s artistic practice, which is underpinned with references to art history, surrealism in particular, and delves into metaphysics and anarcha-feminism, exploring the contradictory and the unpredictable to create a radical subversion of perspective.
The project is accompanied by a journal in three languages (Italian/English/German) by Érik Bordeleau (Concordia University, Montreal).
Performance
30 January, 7pm
31 January, 3pm
February 5, 19; March 12, 19; April 9, 16, 6pm
MUSEION’S 2015 exhibition programme:
The Museion Collection: new acquisitions
Opening: 20 March
21 March 2015–10 January 2016
Curated by Letizia Ragaglia
Martino Gamper: design is a state of mind
Opening: 5 June
6 June–13 September
Curated by Martino Gamper
In collaboration with Serpentine Galleries, London and Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli, Turin
Maurizio Nannucci: Top Hundred
Opening: 17 September
18 September 2015–6 January 2016
Curated by Andreas Hapkemeyer
In collaboration with Museo Marino Marini, Florence
Cerith Wyn Evans
Opening: 2 October
3 October 2015–10 January 2016
Curated by Letizia Ragaglia
MUSEION Project Room
Curated by Frida Carazzato
Hubert Kostner: Konzeptmontage
Opening: 5 June
6 June–30 August
MUSEION Media Façade
Curated by Frida Carazzato
Anna Franceschini
Opening: 28 May, 9:30pm
Screening dates: 4, 11, 18, 25 June
Cristina Rizzo in collaboration with Bolzano Danza / Tanz Bozen
Opening: 9 July, 9:30pm
Screening dates: 16, 23, 30 July
Studio Mut (Thomas Kronbichler, Martin Kerschbaumer)
Opening: 6 August, 9:30pm
Screening dates: 13, 20, 27 August
Project in collaboration with Careof and Viafarini DOCVA Milan
Curated by Martina Angelotti and Simone Frangi
Opening: 3 September, 9:30pm
Screening dates: 10, 17, 24 September