6 October – 12 November 2023
Inauguration Friday 6 October, 6.30 pm
Talk Saturday 7 October 2023, 12pm
On the occasion of Contemporary Art Day, AMACI – Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums
Nuoro and Monte Verità, it all started here. In two ideal islands, two border lands and, at the same time, of belonging. Magnetic places rich in history, which welcomed the protagonists of the collective exhibition last April Die Zauberberge_The enchanted mountains . The residencies, created in collaboration with the Monte Verità Foundation of Ascona, involved six artists, three Sardinian and three Swiss, who discussed common themes during the research period.
The artists of Swiss origin – Tonatiuh Ambrosetti, Maya Hottarek, Lisa Lurati – carried out an investigation into the rich local identity in the Sardinian territory. At the same time, three young Sardinian artists – Giaime Meloni, Elena Muresu, Marco Useli – have inhabited Monte Verità and the spaces of the famous “hill of utopia”, where architecture, art and dance have always dialogued in a virtuous way. An anarchist paradise that has attracted thinkers, painters, writers, philosophers, designers from every corner of Europe: from the anarchist Kropotkin to the Hungarian choreographer Rudolf von Laban, from the Dadaist Hugo Ball to the architect Walter Gropius, from the artist Hans Arp to Karl Gustav Jung, up to the great curator Harald Szeemann.
The works exhibited in Die Zauberberge_The enchanted mountains they represent the result of this research, a contemporary look at places symbolic of primordial components, of spiritualism and autarky. They are photographs, sculptures, graphics, installations, works forged from a unique experience, from the journey and isolation, from the wild and lush beauty of nature, from the absolute breath of woods of archaic memory.
Artists on display
Tonatiuh Ambrosetti
Born in Lugano in 1980, in 2006 he graduated from the ECAL – École cantonale d’art de Lausanne, where in 2012 he obtained a professorship. In 2006 he founded the photographic studio Daniela et Tonatiuh together with Daniela Droz. In his work he develops the conflictual relationship between man and nature, carrying out research on non-objective photography that goes beyond the conventional boundaries of the image to also include sculpture, engraving, drawing and sound and video installations. His works have been exhibited in festivals, galleries and museums of international importance, including: the first edition of Alt+1000 in Rossiniere (2008); the ETH Hönggerberg forum in Zurich (2009); the Royal Danish Academy of fine arts, Copenhagen, Denmark (2011); Bâtiment d’Art Contemporain, Genève (2014); Le musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France (2015); The PRINTSPACE, London, UK (2016); the Center d’art Contemporain Yverdon-les-Bain (2016).
Maya Hottarek
Born in 1990, she is an artist who works with different materials and in different fields, from ceramics to cinema, from sound to everyday objects. He studied visual arts at the Bern University of the Arts and at the Institut Kunst in Basel. One of his main interests is to articulate the complex interactions between the individual, society, economy and nature. Among the main exhibitions, mention should be made of exhibitions at the N/A/S/L in Mexico City, at the Liste Art Fair in Basel and at the Kunsthaus in Appenzell.
Lisa Lurati
Born in Lugano in 1989, she trained at the Vevey photography school and at the Institut Kunst in Basel. His work oscillates between an almost decorative meditation and an aesthetic celebration which, upon closer inspection, reveals a kaleidoscopic universe of symbols and signs that is never fully explained but which nevertheless manages to sustain a curious coherence. Recent personal exhibitions include: In-between things , Ann Mazzotti Gallery, Basel, 2022; Raving Cosmos , CACY, Yverdon-les-Bains, 2021; Nebula , Forma Gallery, Lausanne, 2020; Joke. Very cheerful, almost early, Photoforum Pasquart, Biel, 2018.
Giaime Meloni
Born in Cagliari in 1984, he is a photographer with a PhD in architecture, who currently lives between two islands: Île-de-France and Sardinia. His work empirically explores the ways in which physical space is reproduced and invented. His research has been presented in international publications and conferences (Canada, France, Italy, Portugal). In 2017 he was nominated among the finalists for the Graziadei Prize with his project Das Unheimliche . In 2019 he was selected by CAMERA – Italian Center for Photography – to take part in the FUTURES program supported by the European Union. In the same year he was among the finalists of the Francesco Fabbri Prize for contemporary photography. Since 2022 he has been an associate professor at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de la Ville et du Territoire de Paris Est, where he teaches the arts and techniques of representing space.
Elena Muresu
Photographer, visual artist and performer, born in Alghero in 1990. He obtained a Master’s degree in Cultural Management for the Promotion of the Territory at 24Ore Business School, a degree in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts of Sassari and in Photography at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera. She develops two artistic and professional paths in parallel: on the one hand photography and video and on the other urban culture, which push her towards the exploration of multiple languages to investigate the theme of the relationship between human beings and their territory. Since 2021 she has been a photographer and videomaker for Antonio Marras. In 2021 he exhibited at the XVII International Architecture Exhibition in Venice with the video documentary “Skatepark Italy” (2022 finalist at Via dei Corti, Independent Film Festival, Catania).
Marco Useli
Painter and engraver, born in Nuoro in 1983. Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence in 2007, after two years in London he attended the master’s degree in Contemporary Design with Stone at the Polytechnic of Milan. Since 2012 he has been part of Milano Printmakers. He develops research in the field of art graphics between Milan and Sardinia, where in 2017 he opened an artistic studio in Dorgali. He currently teaches Design Planning at the Francesco Ciusa art high school in Nuoro.
