EMOTION. Contemporary Art Tells The Story of Emotions

the new project in Rome by DART Chiostro del Bramante, curated by Danilo Eccher

from 29 November 2023

More than twenty artists, more than twenty artworks, many of which are site specific: EMOTION takes the audience on a journey through our feelings so that we can perceive many, many more.

Amazement, confusion, desire, joy, fear, anticipation, anguish, happiness, pride, excitement, nostalgia, admiration, relief, calm, embarrassment. How many emotions can inspire an artist? How many can an artwork conceal? What does a spectator feel in front of that artwork? How many emotions endure over time and how many of them change? How do they change? When dealing with emotions, there are more questions than answers; there are always more feelings than certainties.

A three metre high mushroom welcomes spectators in this journey: just like it had happened in a fairy tale, in another adventure, in another world, through another wonder. This time, the mushroom is by Carsten Höller and the journey is through art. Thus begins EMOTION, contemporary art tells the story of emotions, to carry on with much more, with many more emotions.

Spectators will feel amazement in front of Luigi Mainolfi’s super tall figures walking on an ocean floor, in the outdoor part of the cloister; disorientation after seeing Piero Pizzi Cannella’s imaginary cathedrals, and a sense of wonder when encountering his Camera Picta inspired by Raphael. There will be enchantment with the sounds and light refractions of the Northern Lights in Alessandro Sciaraffa’s interactive artwork; attraction towards the haunted forest in the video installation by Masbedo (Nicolò Massazza and Iacopo Bedogni); fascination, hypnotic and concentric, towards Paolo Scirpa’s neon ludoscopes.

This journey through emotions also becomes about relationship and interaction between visitors thanks to Gregor Schneider’s environment. It evolves into a universe of colours built through the modular prisms of the Korean artist Kimsooja; a dreamlike microcosm about possible and utopian visions in Tony Oursler; a new story about great superhero figures revisited by Adrian Tranquilli up to Nedko Solakov’s site specific project which brings back the dimension of narration in a witty and ironic key.

What emotion would you feel if you were to find the ceiling, the floor and all the walls surrounded by Pietro Ruffo’s forest of brambles and dragonflies? What if you could walk among Luigi Ontani‘s herms and imagine being part of it? What if Laure Prouvost‘s video installation and large mechanical chandelier were meant to make you feel a heavenly ecstasy? Would you surrender to this emotion? Is it curiosity that pushes the visitor to explore, investigate and try to discover the most hidden meanings of Matt Collishaw’s still lifes (which were also created thanks to artificial intelligence)?

Eva Jospin translates her emotions into landscapes and architectures made of cardboard; Annette Messager, dedicating them to the human body, makes them fall from the ceiling, placing photographs into fishing nets, coloured shapes and a large Pinocchio; the AES + F collective reveals and explores the values, vices and conflicts of contemporary global culture in what they define a “social psychoanalysis”; Subodh Gupta evokes memories through various objects and, finally, Paul Morrison’s neo-romantic and pop-naturalist drawings lead us through unexpected landscapes and emotions.

EMOTION confirms DART Chiostro del Bramante and Danilo Eccher’s mission of delivering grand contemporary narratives in which art can create a broader dialogue with various disciplines, such as philosophy, literature and architecture. The exhibition develops from the idea of the tension between truth and fiction in art, with emotions being the result of this dichotomy. According to Eccher, having overcome the traditional method of thinking about exhibitions, it is necessary to create paths in which the public can not only “watch” but also engage with artworks. This approach, involving the public on a deeper level, leads to ever changing and more meaningful readings of the artworks.

Artists of all times have questioned the relationship between truth and fiction, as well as the feelings that an artwork arises in those who create it and in those who contemplate it. This new project renews Eccher’s curatorial methodology and the commitment of the Chiostro del Bramante, after the exhibitions Love, Enjoy, Dream and Crazy.

EMOTION further confirms the desire of DART Chiostro del Bramante not only to produce large exhibition projects, but above all to think of its audience in terms of engagement, education, teaching and closeness to contemporary languages. To accomplish such a task, the institution uses a variety of tools, managing to attract and generate a passion in visitors of any age. This way, art can inspire, suggest, accompany and, particularly in this exhibition, thrill.

DART Chiostro del Bramante offers a rich programme of activities to make EMOTION even more exciting: educational projects for students and different audiences, an audio guide with two reading levels, and a variety of initiatives and events that will take place during the exhibition. In addition to this, they will announce new experiences involving their bookshop and cafeteria.

Information
+39 06 68 80 90 35

infomostra@chiostrodelbramante.it

Educational Information
didattica@chiostrodelbramante.it

Buy the ticket online: click here

Official Hashtag
#chiostroemotion

Opening Hours
Monday to Sunday from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM [Ticket office closes one hour earlier].