MICHELA GHISETTI

Woman and her socially defined roles have long been present as a theme in Ghisetti’s work in a wide variety of facets. In 2012, in her triptych Afua—Afua/The Path—Maximum, Ghisetti does not only address gender-specific dimensions of the presentation and representation of woman in today’s society, but also questions of integration and diversity that are increasingly shaping global events. The work is positioned between the greatest possible degree of photorealism and complete abstraction. This contradiction also defines her most recent works presented here for the first time.

Dots and circles have appeared in Ghisetti’s work right from the start, as a small drawing from 1994 with the title Per-sonare shows. In the series Tutto__, begun in 2016, they take over the entire surface of the image: small and large spots unfurl a universe of infinitude in which the vision of a conciliatory juxtaposition of a wide variety of colours, shapes and sizes becomes a political statement calling for a life of respect in the midst of diversity. In the case of In Whose Watery Vastness Life Began it is not only the format that explodes, but in relation to the content the title adds water as a metaphor for the source of life, the subconscious that has a determining influence on us, to the dot as a mystic symbol of the source of all things.

The dolls ‘Che Bambole!’, as Ghisetti calls them, form a group. 10 of it are to be seen in her exhibition at Albertina Museum Wien, 2 are exposed in the exhibition at Galerie Albrecht. The artist plans to enlarge the group over time. The dolls are engaged in a cheerful exchange. Each one has its own name, its own character and structure. And yet they form a community, a unit. Ghisetti spent an extended period of time in Africa where she was inspired by tribal art sculptures. The series revolves around the theme of appreciation of female diversity represented here by the dolls made of the widest variety of materials. In our time shaped by the pandemic, Michela Ghisetti’s most recent works in particular constitute an appeal to understand ourselves as part of a whole and to accept responsibility for the world and for society.

—Antonia Hoerschelmann, chief curator Albertina Museum Vienna, excerpt from Tutto, exhibition catalogue Michela Ghisetti, Albertina Vienna 2020, p.3-5.

Michela Ghisetti (born in 1966 in Bergamo) studied painting and graphic arts at the Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti in Bergamo and the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna. Since 1992, she has been living and working in Vienna. Her work has been presented in numerous exhibitions,both nationally and internationally, including Eisler Preis Ba-Ca Kunstforum Wien, Albertina Contemporary—Gerhard Richter bis Kiki Smith, Galerie Viktor Bucher Vienna, Museum der Moderne Sotschi, Studio Cannaviello Milan, Art Award Kunstforum Strabag, Sotheby´s Vienna, Look! Albertina Museum Bildraum 07 Vienna, Galerie Geresdorfer Vienna. Currently she has a solo show at the Albertina Museum Wien. Her works are in public and private collections such as the collection of the Albertina Museum, the Angerlehner Museum and Strabag.