Monica Bonvicini’s site-specific installation in a deconsecrated church adds another step to the artist’s practice centered on the interaction between artwork, viewer and architecture. With imposing sculptures from the series “Chainswings” dominating the nave, Bonvicini continues her incisive exploration of the dynamics of power inherent in architectural spaces, bringing her investigation to new levels of complexity and resonance.
These performative sculptures, which oscillate between play and submission, are made with galvanized steel chains and embody a provocative synthesis of industrial aesthetics and sub-cultural allusions, challenging the expectations associated with both contemporary art ad sacred spaces.
The installation is critically inserted in the current debate about the role of art in public spaces and the participatory nature of artistic experience. By inviting visitors to physical interaction, Bonvicini subverts the traditional dynamic of passive contemplation, transforming the audience into an active co-creator of the work.
The choice of a deconsecrated church as an exhibition space amplifies the importance of the work, creating a tense dialogue between sacred and profane, institutional and subversive. This gesture not only highlights Bonvicini’s ability to respond eloquently to architectural spaces, but also raises crucial questions about the re-appropriation of public spaces and the fluidity of the boundaries between art, architecture and social criticism.
“And Rose” immerses itself in the central points of Bonvicini’s practice: feminism, sexuality, power and institutional criticism. However, in this context, these themes acquire new nuances, inviting a reflection on the persistence of power structures even in apparently desacralized spaces.
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