Il Più Bell’Errore del Mondo (The most beautiful mistake in the world)

IL PIÙ BELL’ERRORE DEL MONDO (The most beautiful mistake in the world) 06.03 — 30.03.2022 Valentina Pini and Francesco De Bernardi curated by di Giacomo Galletti e Gabriel Stoeckli at Sonnenstube Offspace, Lugano (Switzerland) In II più bell’errore del mondo (The most beautiful mistake in the world) the artistic practices of Francesco De Bernardi and Valentina Pini, partially distant in terms of techniques and approach, meet together in a duo show at Sonnenstube presenting a series of recent works. walking and whistling... Entering Sonnenstube offspace, one immediately comes across two bed-shaped characters, absent-mindedly discussing, leaning against the wall. In front of them, on the cardboard-covered floor, among the footprints of the visitors, lie a few abandoned shoes, that after having taken a few steps have been left on the floor or shelved under the heater. The sensation of hardly grasping the presence of fragmented stories, of recognizing parts of narrations of which the overall picture escapes us, is evoked by De Bernardi’s sculptures. These feelings are alternated with the perceptive immersion of Valentina Pini’s aerial installations. ...In the glare of the sun... Partly backlit by neons, three structures composed by polyethylene and metal are hanging from the ceiling. Through a process of transformation of meaning and imaginative morphogenesis, the semi-transparent plastic sheets modeled by Valentina Pini have been heated and then deformed by imprinting fruits and vegetables. The negative forms thus obtained, then filled with colored bio resin, stand out from the recognizable positive vegetal, becoming what reminds of a mutating ecosystem or a petri dish in which fanciful microorganisms proliferate. By moving under these works, and getting lost in the transparencies and reflections it is possible to immerse yourself in the enlargement of an ambiguous microcosm made of contrasts between familiarity and estrangement: between the asepticity of a suspended ceiling in a office space and the unexpected mutations of a microbiological culture. In the same manner as some traditional casting techniques,to create In the glare of sun a grapefruit has been imprinted in the clay and the groove has been filled with an ecological resin. Pini’s work often plays with the ambiguity of certain everyday objects, decontextualized through their reproduction in unusual materials or through the repetitions and extensions that their forms can generate. ...I project myself into it... In De Bernardi’s works, which are gradually encountered around the room, small portions of everyday life are isolated and returned through micro-narratives in the form of different media and materials as for example in Stroll, a textual work that takes shape thanks to the sculptural medium: the protagonist of the story walks and reflects between himself and himself while his thoughts are recorded on the ground through the footprints left by his shoes, or in Untitled (Fiu Fiu), whose whistle rhythmically and obsessively haunts the exhibition space. There are not enough elements to fully understand the state of mind of the character, who, with a fixed gaze, perpetually whistles embarrassed, pleased or lost in thought. The perception of these worlds and stories in miniature, as if observed from afar, amplifies the nostalgia that characterizes the artist’s gaze and production. ...There’s fruit on the roof! Il più bell’errore del Mondo is the second exhibition of the annual program of Sonnenstube which this year is dedicated to Gianni Rodari’s novel entitled: The pie in the sky. A story that speaks of education, freedom and tolerance. A story of ordinary science fiction that derails in a saraband of joyful inventions. Francesco De Bernardi Born in Vimercate (MI) in 1995, Francesco De Bernardi lives and works in Lausanne. He graduated in visual arts at the Naba in Milan and obtained a master’s degree at ECAL in Lausanne in 2020. He has exhibited in several institutional and non-institutional contexts, including: Galerie Crèvecoeur (Paris), Villa Necchi (Milan), Lokal-int (Bienne) and at the Centre d’Art Contemporaine in Geneva. Valentina Pini (CH) 1982 Ticino Lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland. She is a graduate of the Royal College of Art Master of Sculpture in London. She works mostly with installation and sculpture but does not preclude the use of other media such as, video and photography. In 2019 she was selected for the Johannesburg residency of ProHelvetia. In 2021 she was among the finalists and finalists of the Swiss Art Awards. Recent exhibitions include: 2021 Rimembrana, Nano, Zürich (duo show); la Regionale, Lugano, Villa Ciani; Put-to-bed, Last Tango, Zürich; Swiss Art Awards, Basel; 2020 Curiosity killed the cat - Kunsthalle Arbon, Arbon (Solo Show)