Ulysses. We are all Heroes

Mostra collettiva.

Comunicato stampa

The exhibition brings to life the spirit of Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey in the context of our contemporary world. Four international artists — Gayle Chong Kwan, Stephanie Blake, ISAO and Didier Guillon— reinterpret and breathe new life into the classical tale.

The first of a mythological trilogy, ULYSSES. We are all Heroes narrates four of the most crucial events of the book, in which Ulysses undergoes a number of remarkable encounters. If Ulysses is the hero of this art exhibition, next year Palazzo Bonvicini will develop its curatorial project on Telemachus, followed by the final chapter of this series on the Odyssey, focusing on the figure of Penelope.

Who is the hero the title refers to? Ulysses is the son of Laertes, King of Ithaca. During the ten years of his turbulent journey home, Ulysses encounters new worlds and faces specific challenges, which the artists have re-read and presented in the four rooms of our Renaissance palazzo.

Although very different, these moments of the story share a fundamental element: the cunning of Ulysses, who emerges victorious in every situation: defeating Polyphemus, saving his companions from Circe, escaping the irresistible seductions of the Sirens, and finally saving his homeland from the Suitors. In addition, the spaces, although undoubtedly heterogeneous, form a coherent unit in which the visitor is invited to embark on a multisensory journey. Like Ulysses, the visitor embarks on this voyage through immersive installations, at times like navigating “an ocean at night”, at other times sailing through incredibly vivid and luminous passages. Not really experiencing the nòstos like our Homeric hero, the visitor of ULYSSES. We are all Heroes embraces a conceptual discovery of wonder and contemplation.