The screen is a muscle

The collaboration between Intesa Sanpaolo and Artissima continued with the fourth edition of the artists’ film and video programme hosted in the spaces of Gallerie d’Italia – Torino. The exhibition was titled The screen is a muscle and it was curated by Luca Lo Pinto. The screen is a muscle was a show conceived as a composition of video works that do not follow a theme but were developed in a visual and sonic trajectory that was both heterogeneous and coherent. The project brought together experiments with images in movement created by artists with imaginaries in which reflections on the body, the digital dimension, gender stereotypes and urban nature were manifested in a sensual, emotional and poetic way, offering a space of freedom without rhetoric to the eyes of visitors. The title payed homage to the famous work The Mind is a Muscle (1968) by Yvonne Rainer, a pioneer in the production of an emancipation of the human subject in the context of dance, eliminating any conventions of gesture and deeply articulating the action of watching and being watched.

The exhibition space lent itself to use as a gymnasium in which the works dictated the movements of the spectators and imposed a duration as they are experienced. The videos were projected one after the next, in keeping with a circular presentation that obliged the viewer to move, generating an immersive and dynamic experience. The viewing was paced by adding an ulterior level of dramaturgy, with short audio interventions created for the occasion by the artist Martina Ruggeri, which broke up and introduced new rhythms in the score.

Galleries and artists: Bruce Conner (Thomas Dane, London, Napoli); Low Jack & Invernomuto (Pinksummer, Genova); Tommy Malekoff (Zero…, Milano); Vijay Masharani (Clima, Milano); Eva & Franco Mattes (APALAZZOGALLERY, Brescia); Shahryar Nashat (Sylvia Kouvali, London, Piraeus); James Richards (Sylvia Kouvali, London, Piraeus); SAGG Napoli (Import Export, Warsaw, London e Zazà, Milano, Napoli); Julia Scher (Esther Schipper, Berlin, Seoul, Paris); Anastasia Sosunova (Eastcontemporary, Milano).

Sound: Martina Ruggeri
Master: Filippo Brancadoro

Bruce Conner, BREAKAWAY, 1966 (still). © Conner Family Trust. Courtesy of the Conner Family Trust, Thomas Dane Gallery and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
Low Jack & Invernomuto, Mangrovia, 2024 (still). Courtesy of the Artist and Pinksummer, Genova
Tommy Malekoff, The Bluffs, 2024 (still). Courtesy of the Artist and ZERO…, Milan
Vijay Masharani, Give me that fucking content, Universe, 2023 (still). Courtesy of the Artist and Clima, Milan
Eva & Franco Mattes, But I Love Human, 2024 (still). Courtesy of the Artists and APALAZZOGALLERY, Brescia
Shahryar Nashat, Lover's Companion, 2024 (still). Courtesy of the Artist, Sylvia Kouvali, London/Piraeus, and Gladstone, Brussels/New York/Seoul
James Richards, Radio at Night, 2015 (still). Courtesy of the Artist and Sylvia Kouvali London/Piraeus
SAGG Napoli, Pisces don’t drown, 2022 (still). Courtesy of the Artist and Champ Lacombe, Biarritz/London; IMPORT EXPORT, Warsaw/London; zazà, Naples/Milan. The film was produced by Champ Lacombe
Julia Scher, Lip Sync 2015, 2016 (still). Courtesy of the Artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin/Paris/Seoul. Stills © Julia Scher
Anastasia Sosunova, Preyer, 2024 (still). Courtesy of the Artist and eastcontemporary, Milan