Arachne's challenge. Reflections on women from the 1970s to today

Catalog of the exhibition of the same name curated by Angela Madesani at the Nuova Galleria Morone in Milan (31.03 | 13.05.2016).

Artist: Mariella Bettineschi, Louise Bourgeois, Silvia Celeste Calcagno, Daniela Comani, Bruna Esposito, Ines Fontenla, Nan Goldin, My Gorni, Rebecca Horn, Julia Krahn, Maria Lai, Chiara Lecca, Annette Messager, Shirin Neshat, Gina Pane, Cindy Sherman, Chiharu Shiota, Fausta Squatriti.

Always, women were considered the faithful representatives of the Earth, our Mother Nature and fruitful origin. Intuitively we perceive this analogy as true, as something that embodies an evident reality and speaks to us directly about the Essence of the Feminine...

A complex exposition, which investigates the different languages ​​of contemporary art through the work of 18 artiste. The review, which examines over forty years of art history, it should not be understood as a collective with works by only women, but as a reflection on the work of artists who have investigated the subject in depth.

From Body Art works by Gina Pane a Louise Bourgeois, which he did, over the years, this theme is the fulcrum of his research. On display will be the works of some of the most important protagonists of international art from Annette Messager a Rebecca Horn a Bruna Esposito, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 1999.

Particular attention will be paid to Maria Lai, one of the most intense Italian artists of the second part of the 20th century, represented by the gallery, as well Daniela Comani, who has lived and worked in Berlin for over twenty-five years and who deals with issues related to gender culture.

There are works by artists of different generations, who have placed their attention on this topic since Fausta Squatriti a Mariella Bettineschi all’argentina Inès Fontenla, a My Gorni, whose work straddles figurative art and literature, to the younger ones Chiara Lecca, Julia Krahn and Silvia Celeste Calcagno, winner of the Faenza Award in 2015. The project must be understood as a dialogue between the various expressive languages ​​of contemporaneity.

The title of the exhibition has a clear mythological reference, ad Arachne, skilled weaver and embroiderer who, aware of his skill, he had the courage to challenge the goddess Athena in a public competition. An ambitious and victorious challenge, similar to that proposed by female artists of the Western world from the post-war period onwards, eager to gain their role, well beyond the coercive limits attributed to them by society and the art world up to that point.