Verona, an installation by Claire Fontaine joins the collections of Palazzo Maffei

After important works by contemporary artists such as Arcangelo Sassolino, Maurizio Nannucci, Daan Roosegaarde, Chiara Dynys, Leandro Erlich, Nunzio, and Giuseppe Gallo, a new important work created by the international art collective CLAIRE FONTAINE enters the collection of Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo in Verona, inviting reflection on the role of art, the concept of beauty and its ambiguities, and the instrumentalization of female aesthetics.

Choosing Claire Fontaine for this new opening to contemporary art at Palazzo Maffei was Gabriella Belli, who is also responsible for the scientific project and exhibition itinerary of the House Museum. The work entitled Beauty is a ready-madewas unveiled on March 9 and is a site-specific installation in dialogue with the 19th-century sculpture of La Bagnante by Alessandro Puttinati (Verona, 1801 - Milan, 1872), a masterpiece of Lombard Romanticism that welcomes visitors to the atrium of the monumental Veronese building. The installation aims to challenge the traditional concept of beauty and implicitly denounce the commodification of the female body. The statue of La Bagnante by Alessandro Puttinati, among the recent acquisitions of the Carlon Collection, has been placed in the courtyard of Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo, in the same place where in the 17th century there was reportedly a nymphaeum with a Neptune. With The Bather, the artist has reached new heights by highlighting not only technical skills but above all the ability to convey the feelings of the young woman about to plunge in. Inspired by the new installation, Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo created “Art Lab,” an educational project for young people. The workshops explore the connection between individuals and works of art, reinventing everyday objects and using new materials to stimulate artistic creativity.

“The concept of beauty,” explains Claire Fontaine, “varies across eras and places, and Palazzo Maffei’s collection offers an example of this varied complexity. The Bather placed at the museum’s entrance, a symbol of female beauty and as a work of art, caught discovering her graces, takes on a contemporary depth as we implicitly question, through this intervention, what we find beautiful.” "Women’s bodies, now a political battleground, depicted by The Bather, heedless of the gazes of others as she uncovers her nudity, acquires a critical sense,“ the collective concludes, ”and is put into perspective, as a creation of gaze evil, of the male gaze that objectifies the beings it desires."

Notes on the artist

Claire Fontaine is a feminist art collective founded by Fulvia Carnevale and James Thornhill in Paris in 2004. She currently resides and has been working in Palermo since 2017. The collective’s name is inspired by Duchamp’s iconic ready-made, the Fontaine urinal, and a famous brand of French notebooks (Clairefontaine). This name is used to create a space where artists’ biographies are not directly linked to the works, allowing the research to become a place of freedom and disobjectification. The use of appropriation and détournement in their work is driven by the desire to activate forms and forces within visual culture, emphasizing its political content. Claire Fontaine expresses herself through video, sculpture, painting, and writing.

Image: Claire Fontaine, Beauty is a ready-made (2024; three-dimensional LED letters, structure and support; Verona, Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo). Photo by Andrea Pugiotto.

Verona, an installation by Claire Fontaine joins the collections of Palazzo Maffei

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