Roberto Cuoghi
PERLA POLLINA 1996-2016
PERLA POLLINA will comprise over 70 works, spanning 1996 to 2016 and covering the different aspects of his rich and intricate production. Through an array of unconventional techniques, Cuoghi’s paintings, drawings, sculptures and animations bear the imperative to always contest the known, the familiar, the accepted, and the understood.
Known for his legendary transformation into an old man for seven years when in his twenties, Roberto Cuoghi is one of today’s most mysterious artists. Concepts of perpetual experimentation, rule breaking, continuous and processual learning are central to his work. As Anthony Huberman, contributor to the catalogue states, “A radical thinker, Roberto Cuoghi constantly chooses the uphill battles. In the face of Western culture’s preference for the beautiful and the flawless, he chooses the mutilated and the deformed; in the face of the art industry’s fascination with the new, he chooses the out-of-date; in the face of our respect for those who have survived, he chooses to celebrate those who have gone extinct.”
This retrospective is part of a wide curatorial project initiated by the Centre d’Art Contemporain, Genève. It will bring together other exhibitions, organized in collaboration with the Madre Museum, Naples, Italy (May 26 –September 18, 2017, curated by Andrea Bellini and Andrea Viliani) and the Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany (October 14–December 17, 2017, curated by Andrea Bellini and Moritz Wesseler).
The artist’s first comprehensive monograph will accompany the exhibition. This richly illustrated 500 page catalogue, published by Hatje Cantz, will include new essays by Andrea Bellini, curator of the exhibition, as well as Andrea Cortellessa, Anthony Huberman, Charlotte Laubard and Yorgos Tzirtzilakis in addition to a compilation of previous interviews and texts by the artist, a complete chronology and bibliography by Sara De Chiara.
Roberto Cuoghi (b. 1973, Modena, Italy) lives and works in Milan. He has had solo exhibitions at DESTE Foundation, Athens; Le Consortium, Dijon; Aspen Art Museum; New Museum, New York; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Institute of Contemporary Art, London among others. Cuoghi will also represent Italy at the 2017 Venice Biennale.
Curated by Andrea Bellini
