Prix de la Fondation Théodore Strawinsky
Prix HEAD Galerie Pace
Fancies, Viola Leddi, Work.Master – Pratiques artistiques contemporaines HEAD – Genève
Fancies
Viola Leddi
The body of paintings presented by Viola Leddi in occasion of her diploma at HEAD - Genève is conceived around the meaning of the word "fancy", an obsolete term that can be traced back to female desires, whims and cravings. In the past, the term "fancies" was in fact often used to define the imaginative flights of a chaotic and deviant mind. The artist thus reflects on a certain conception of madness and deviance attributed in a Western and patriarchal power system to female subjects, with the series "Pill Boxes", dedicated to each of the "female types" imagined by the painter Casorati in the painting "Le Signorine" (1912). Combining research on statistical data in the field of mental illness treatment in Italy with a reflection on the form of character delineation adopted by Casorati's gaze, the artist conceived each pill box to contain specific drugs, thus placing alongside the idealized "personalities" a specific mental disorder. In this way, Viola Leddi reflects on the processes of stereotyping and demonization of women that have acted and still act within patriarchal power dynamics, aimed at imposing a predetermined role on the female subject. Finally, Leddi exhibits "Memories Vessel", a ceramic vase inspired by Gio Ponti's "Vaso Prospettica" (1925). Inside some of the perspective cells painted on the vase are placed some recurring elements in the artist's recent paintings. In others, however, holes are visible: in fact, spy cameras are inserted inside the vessel, arranged to observe and record the surrounding environment and transforming the object into a kind of eerie, and at the same time familiar, surveillance device.
Fancies, Viola Leddi, Work.Master – Pratiques artistiques contemporaines HEAD – Genève
Fancies, Viola Leddi, Work.Master – Pratiques artistiques contemporaines HEAD – Genève
Fancies, Viola Leddi, Work.Master – Pratiques artistiques contemporaines HEAD – Genève