In Palermo, the exhibition of the young Swiss artist Deborah-Joyce Holman

In Palermo, theSwiss Institute presents the exhibition Spill I-III, a solo show by Swiss artist Deborah-Joyce Holman (Basel, 1991), who works with video, installation and sculpture, focusing on writing as a creative practice, at the headquarters of theMunicipal Historical Archives. The artist is interested in the way language constructs identity and questions issues of authorship. For the exhibition Spill I-III, the three-screen film was almost entirely shot in Sicily. Through a free association of images visible on the three screens (including lava rocks, flowing water, and two mouths kissing) the viewer experiences a kind of visual poem that draws on the theories of poet and philosopher Édouard Glissant: a profound reflection on colonialism and slavery, but also a powerful vision of a world in which cultural diversity and the relationship between people and places, human and nonhuman beings, visible and invisible forces, air, water, fire and vegetation are constantly activated.

Deborah-Joyce Holman is a multidisciplinary artist living between London and Basel. In 2020-2022, she worked at East London Auto Italia arts organization first in management, then curatorial. She founded 1.1, a platform for novice artists/artists in the arts, music and textual practices, with an exhibition space in Basel, active from 2015-2022. Deborah-Joyce curated the 2018 and 2019 annual group exhibitions for the Les Urbaines art and music festival in Lausanne, presenting newly commissioned works by more than 15 international female artists/artists. Their work has been exhibited internationally, including exhibitions at schwarzescafé, Luma Westbau, Zurich (solo show, 2022); Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (2022); Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris (2022); The Shed, New York City (2021); 7th Athens Biennial (2021); La Quadriennale di Roma (2020); Material Art Fair, Mexico City (2020).

Deborah-Joyce Holman’s video work is co-produced with Confort Moderne, Nottingham Contemporary and Shedhalle Zurich on the initial proposal of Caroline Honorien. Some of the images were directed by Tarek Lakhrissi. Sound production is done in collaboration with Yantan Ministry.

For all information, you can call +39 06 420 421 or send an email to roma@istitutosvizzero.it.

To learn more about the artist, you can visit her official website.

Pictured: Deborah-Joyce Holman, film still Spill I-III. Courtesy of the artist

In Palermo, the exhibition of the young Swiss artist Deborah-Joyce Holman

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