Penumbra

Karimah Ashadu, Jonathas de Andrade, Aziz Hazara, He Xiangyu, Masbedo, James Richards, Emilija Škarnulytė, Ana Vaz Fondazione In Between Art Film is pleased to present Penumbra, its first exhibition at the Ospedaletto and Church of Santa Maria dei Derelitti in Venice on the occasion of the 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Alessandro Rabottini and Leonardo Bigazzi—respectively Artistic Director and Curator at the Fondazione—Penumbra will feature a series of new video and filmic productions commissioned to Karimah Ashadu (1985, UK), Jonathas de Andrade (1982, Brazil), Aziz Hazara (1992, Afghanistan), He Xiangyu (1986, China), Masbedo (Nicolò Massazza, 1973 and Iacopo Bedogni, 1970, Italy), James Richards (1983, UK), Emilija Škarnulytė (1987, Lithuania), and Ana Vaz (1986, Brazil). All eight works deal in different ways with pressing contemporary issues and are commissioned and produced by Fondazione In Between Art Film, an initiative founded by Beatrice Bulgari. The exhibition Penumbra, the title of which evokes a space of partial illumination, takes inspiration from the rarefied atmosphere of Venice and the hybrid architecture of the Ospedaletto and Church of Santa Maria dei Derelitti, and turns its architecture into a cinematic machine. The show stages a reflection on moving images as a space of material and metaphorical transformation. Penumbra showcases the Fondazione’s mission to promote the culture of moving images and support international artists, institutions and theorists that explore the dialogue between disciplines and time-based media. Beatrice Bulgari, President of Fondazione In Between Art Film, said: “As a passionate advocate of moving images and patron of institutions such as MAXXI Museum, Tate Modern, the Venice Biennale, and Documenta, I created Fondazione In Between Art Film in 2019 to formally extend this support directly to international artists, curators and writers working in the field of moving images. Our commitment is increasingly focused on commissioning and producing original works: being in close contact with the artists through the process of realising their visions feeds into the Fondazione’s mission to further the role and potential of the moving image in our time. Venice is a unique city and its Biennale is an international stage, which makes it a natural choice for our first exhibition. I am pleased to bring eight new commissions to the attention of the global public, with the hope of contributing to the cultural life of the city as well as to the debate on some of the most pressing issues of our times.” Exploring the areas of the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto where these different times and functions have unexpectedly layered, the works featured in Penumbra propose a reflection on penumbral states of vulnerability and immunity, memory and history, truth and fiction, and visibility and opacity, within the current landscape of global transformations. The exhibition design by Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli and his studio 2050+ reflects on the history of the location whilst also spatialising the curatorial concept. Built in 1517 as a temporary structure to shelter destitute people, the Ospedaletto soon became one of the most important hospitals in Venice. Its temporary structures gradually gave way to permanent wards and a church, the design of which was influenced by Andrea Palladio. Over the centuries, the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto was reworked following contemporary tastes: from Baroque interventions by Baldassare Longhena onto the church facade to decorations by some of the most famous artists of the time, such as Giambattista Tiepolo. Further additions included a courtyard and loggia, again designed by Longhena, a spiral staircase designed by Giuseppe Sardi, and an elliptical concert hall decorated with illusionistic paintings by Tiepolo’s pupil Jacopo Guarana. This stratification of architectures was accompanied by various changes of purpose that continued up until recently when the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto was the site of a retirement house before becoming a cultural venue thanks to Ospedaletto Contemporaneo promoted by Venews Arts. Alessandro Rabottini, Artistic Director, and Leonardo Bigazzi, Curator, of Fondazione In Between Art Film, said: “The spaces of the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto evoke a polyphony of stories, times and functions. For centuries, this has been a place for care and hope, and today its architecture manifests multiple narratives stratified over time. Starting from this very special context, the exhibition Penumbra brings together eight new video installations commissioned from as many international artists. These works accompany us through the multiple meanings that the concept of a ‘grey area’ brings forth, telling of transitional states and transformational spaces: from dark to light, from human to non-human, from history to fiction, and from truth to uncertainty. From the literal interpretation of ‘penumbra’ as the effect of a solar eclipse on the Earth, we move to the metaphorical interpretation of a space in which the demarcation between opposing categories proves to be ambiguous and fallacious. The title of the exhibition is also a reference to the condition of absence of light, which is necessary for moving images to be visible. We could not have imagined a better context than Venice for an exhibition made up of both darkness and sudden flashes. We look forward to continuing to show these works in different contexts in the future.” Penumbra will be accompanied by a cross-disciplinary public programme curated by Bianca Stoppani and Paola Ugolini—respectively Editor and Curator at the Fondazione—that will involve the artists featured in the exhibition and expand the conversations around their practice, via panels with international curators and thinkers.

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Castello 6691, Barbaria de le Tole

Venice, NY