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Mendes Wood DM at Villa Era
Cristina Canale | Brice Guilbert | Vojtěch Kovařík | Paulo Nazareth
26 September - 15 November 2020
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Mendes Wood DM is proud to announce three exhibitions of work by Cristina Canale, Vojtěch Kovařík, Brice Guilbert and an immersive sound installation by Paulo Nazareth, at Villa Era, a historic 19th-century house and estate in the Italian countryside, located between Milan and Turin.
On view from 26 September - 15 November 2020, the presentation will give visitors the opportunity to engage with the work of four exciting contemporary artists in a unique setting, far from the traditional white-walled context of the urban art gallery.
One of the effects of the global pandemic has been to force a growing portion of our urbanized society to look outside the city, to the countryside, for breathing space and inspiration, and to imagine new priorities, new ways of working, and the possibility of a life lived at a slower pace than what was, until recently, considered to be the norm. These ideas were already so widespread that the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, inaugurated Rem Koolhaas’ exhibition Countryside, The Future on the 20th of February this year, though it was closed shortly after due to the pandemic. However, its message about the importance of reimagining the countryside resonates even more powerfully now, after months of unprecedented confinement for so many of us.
In line with this concept, and reflecting the profound changes that have swept through the art world this year, the aim of these shows is to slow down the traditional pace at which we experience art and present it in a bucolic context that is more conducive to engagement and contemplation. The exhibitions will be displayed across the ground and first floors of the Villa, creating a large-scale, immersive experience that blends contemporary art with 19th-century Italian architecture and landscape design.
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Villa Era is located in Vigliano Biellese, near the northern Italian town of Biella. The neo-classical Villa, which dates back to the late 19th century, is built in a private estate that connects to the ancient vineyard on the hillside behind it. From the 1970s to the 1990s, Villa Era was home to Eubiotica and I.C.A.R.E., two non-profit institutions that pioneered European scientific research on organic agriculture, holistic nutrition and Yoga and Ayurveda, hosting university-level courses, conferences and workshops taught by the greatest international experts, scholars, scientists and practitioners of their time. In 1990, the estate hosted the 10th Anniversary of the Right Livelihood Award, know as the “Alternative Nobel Prize”. Villa Era’s library, one the first private libraries to be made public in Italy, contains more than 3,000 volumes and unique research papers on subjects including Indian philosophy, social sciences, ecology, Yoga, Ayurveda and macrobiotic nutrition.
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*Soundtrack in all the videos courtesy of Tuk Tuk Thailand.
