Dalla Fondazione Nicola Trussardi si sviluppa una declinazione internazionale con la creazione della Fondazione Beatrice Trussardi che crea un progetto con uno sguardo simile ma internazionale al storica fondazione milanese che ha fatto della nomadicità, curata da Massimiliano Gioni, uno stile espositivo.
Si parte con un progetto di Pawel Althamer che dall'11 Luglio apre il suo lavoro in Val Fex in Engadina, Svizzera. Si tratta di un riflessione sociale e ambientale che prenderà forma in una installazione posta in una baita accessibile solo a piedi.
Il nuovo ente svilupperà anche una serie di progetti di ricerca e studio in ambiti che siano non solo artistici. Si inizia con la collaborazione dello scrittore Giuliano da Empoli e di un comitato scientifico specifico.
CS
In the Swiss alpine landscape of the Engadin valley, Polish sculptor Paweł Althamer’s ‘Franciszek’ transforms a 17th century hut into a mysterious chapel.
For its inaugural exhibition, the Beatrice Trussardi Foundation has invited Polish artist Paweł Althamer to present an installation in a mountain hut 2000 metres above sea level in Val Fex, the centre of one of the most fascinating hiking routes in the Engadin. A quintessential example of the confrontation between age-old traditions and modernisation in rural Europe, the alpine valley of the Engadin is the point of departure for a reflection on the region’s recent transformations—both environmental and social. Over the centuries, the Engadin’s geographical position as one of the highest inhabited valleys in Europe and its distinct geological formations have made it a place beloved by artists and intellectuals.
In this modest 17th century hut, only accessible by foot or horse-drawn carriage, Paweł Althamer will create one of his ‘tableaux’ in which he combines memories of sacred art with vernacular influences from various cultures. At the heart of this installation is the figure of St Francis, chosen as the symbol of a deep communion with nature and of a simultaneous detachment from earthly possessions.
In Althamer’s works—often created with organic materials such as grass, leaves, wax, animal entrails, and skins—reality and fiction merge to provide a fantastical and mysterious atmosphere. Within this world human figures are the recurring units against which to measure reality while simultaneously functioning as gateways to spiritual experiences. This installation is rooted in the tradition of a ‘visionary Switzerland’, as described by curator Harald Szeemann, which in the Engadin inspired an unusual combination of spiritualism and materialism as seen in the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, Giovanni Segantini, Lou Salomé and Alberto Giacometti, each profoundly influencing the way we imagine and experience nature.
