GALERIE ALBERTA PANE is pleased to announce the opening of its new exhibition space in Venice
with the exhibition  Le Désir

Featuring works by  Gayle Chong Kwan, Romina De Novellis, Marie Denis, Christian Fogarolli, Marcos Lutyens,

Ivan Moudov, Michelangelo Penso

Preview May 10th, 11th 11 am – 7 pm
Special Opening May 12th, 2 pm – 10 pm
Exhibition May 13th – July 29th, 10.30 am – 7 pm
Dorsoduro 2403/h - 30123 Venice

“To desire is to construct an aggregate: an aggregate of a skirt, of a sun ray... of a street, an assemblage of a woman, of a vista, of a colour. That’s what desire is: constructing an assemblage, constructing a region, really, to assemble. Desire is a constructivism. All of this concerns physical phenomena, In order for an event to occur, a difference of potential state is necessary, and for there to be a difference of potential, two levels are required, so that something occurs, a flash occurs or not, or a little stream... and that’s in the domain of desire. That’s what a desire is, constructing. Everyone of us spends his/her time constructing... When anyone says, I desire this or that, that means that he/she is in the process of constructing an assemblage, and it’s nothing else. Desire is nothing else.”

L'Abécédaire de Gilles Deleuze, D comme désir, 1988, film, France

After almost ten years in Paris, Galerie Alberta Pane opens a new and important space in Venice, transforming the spectacular scenery of a former carpenter’s shop into an exhibition space for contemporary art and experimentation, open to the city.
The opening exhibition features works by seven artists represented by the gallery itself. These artworks, specifically designed for this occasion, are powerful pieces made by some of the most interesting artists of the contemporary art scene, working on the edge between performances, installations, videos and sculptures.
Gilles Deleuze’s reflection on the desire, defined as a flow stirring production, is the starting point and fil rouge of this first exhibition.  The goal is to weave a networks of free conjunctions between the artists, who are invited to express themselves in relation to the exhibition space, but also, and most importantly, to focus on their own aesthetics and their current research. Freely.
The Désir is to build a multifaceted and relational show, a dialogue between the artists who give new shape to the geometry of the gallery, intended from the beginning as a space dedicated to exchange and experimentation. This message will extend to and permeate the calli and canals of the city through performative actions with strong cathartic impact.

Artists and artworks on show

The Scottish artist Gayle Chong Kwan with ARTIST + PARTUM = (2017) makes reference to the unwritten rule according to which the artistic creation is a great passion which does not leave room or time for responsibilities such as procreation and upbringing of children. Gayle Chong Kwan explores the contradictions of a woman-artist, divided between creative and “pro-creative” roles, by means of a newspaper printed and distributed in the streets of Venice and in the gallery.

Romina De Novellis, Neapolitan performer living in Paris known for her magnetism, performs for the Désir an itinerant performance across the canals and waters of the city of Venice. A modern Botticelli’s Venus, the artist positions herself in the centre of a Venetian boat surrounded by flowers and flags of all the countries around the Mediterranean basin. Her procession is the funeral of her present, given the regression of mankind. Venice, ideal crossroads between East and West, between Italy and Europe, becomes the cradle carrying the performance on the waters of the Placenta, the Mediterranean Sea, symbol and shared place of life and death of our cultures and of their implosion.

The French artist Marie Denis, an artist strongly inspired by the botanical and vegetal world, presents a new wall sculpture with a powerful visual impact. The nature is manipulated, transformed and sublimated with grace by Marie, taking the form of a totemic herbarium-sculpture.

Christian Fogarolli, emerging and acclaimed Italian artist, proposes two different works looking at a possible relationship between art, medical-scientific theory and therapy. The artworks are realised on the basis of research conducted in medical institutions and mental hospitals.

The brand-new sculptures/installations by Marcos Lutyens will be accompanied by a hypnotic induction session held by the artist on the Opening day, whose traces will remain visible for the whole duration of the exhibition. Lutyens, born in London, lives and works in Los Angeles.  He has always been fascinated by the interdisciplinarity and he uses cognitive techniques such as hypnosis, technologies such as robotic and other sensorial instruments to create performances, sculptures and installations.

Ivan Moudov offers a corrosive and critical analysis of political and social conventions and of individual behaviour. Breaking the myth of the consequential cause-effect relationship, the Bulgarian artist presents, with his typical irony, an artwork/contract stipulated between the collector and the artist, in which the latter commits to make the value of the work increase over the years.

Michelangelo Penso, well-known Venetian artist, presents a new large-sized sculpture in situ, inspired by the scientific-biological research. Penso investigates in an abstract manner a non-visible, microscopic world, made by bacteria, viruses and micro-organisms, regenerated by means of high impact geometries, suspended and invasive.

Galerie Alberta Pane

Working close to the artists and for the artists, with the principal aim of spreading their work nationally and internationally: this is the main purpose of Alberta Pane, art dealer oriented to promotion and scouting, who deals only with the artists she believes in, in order to help them being recognised in the art system.

Almost ten years after opening her Parisian gallery, Alberta Pane keeps the French art space, but at the same time strategically chooses to come back to Venice, her city, opening the doors of a former carpenter’s shop, transformed into an evocative exhibition space. Behind this choice, there is Alberta Pane’s intention to create a place capable of producing culture, in order to connect with the city and its people not only through experimental and high-quality exhibitions, but also by means of workshops, meetings, discussions and research on art. An international space, still developing, Galerie Alberta Pane is an energetic place where points of views can be exchanged – something Venice did not have before.
With six exhibitions per year and several international art fairs, Galerie Alberta Pane has realised important projects in collaboration with museums, cultural institutions and international galleries. All the artists who collaborate with Alberta Pane are actively operating in the most important epicentres of the global contemporary art scene, such as dOCUMENTA, Biennale di Venezia, Manifesta, Istanbul Biennial, Biennale de Lyon.