Viola Leddi - PUPILLE

FRAC Champagne-Ardenne is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in France of artist Viola Leddi. This exhibition brings together brand new works by Viola Leddi. For this invitation, the artist explores the etymological definition of the word ‘pupil’, in reference to processes of self-perception in relation to the gaze of others.

Viola Leddi’s work questions the power structures at play in the representation
of women’s bodies in Italian and Western art, culture and society. Her paintings and sculptures explore the concept of femininity and the ambivalent relationship between the coercive process of identifying with certain stereotypes and the desire to subvert them. Her recent work focuses on the notion of gender in horror and gothic films, using motifs such as haunted domestic spaces, insomnia, the duality of death and love, mental disorders and self-narration.

Born in Milan in 1993, Viola Leddi lives and works between Milan and Geneva.
She graduated in 2022 from HEAD - Geneva in Contemporary Artistic Practices, after a degree in Fine Art with a major in painting from the Brera Academy in Milan and a year at the School of Painting of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
in Copenhagen. Recent solo exhibitions include Strategies for Invisibility, VIN VIN Gallery (Naples, 2022); I saw stars turn into dark coals, Pace Gallery (Geneva, 2023); Lovable Creatures, TILE project space (Milan, 2019). She has taken part in several group exhibitions, including Italian Painting Today,Triennale di Milano (Milan, 2023); Madrigale, VIN VIN Vienna (Naples, 2022); From Submersion to Subversion, Palazzina (Basel, 2021). In 2022 she was awarded the Théodore Stravinsky Foundation Prize by HEAD - Geneva and the Galerie Prize by HEAD - Geneva, for her solo exhibition at the Pace Gallery. Viola Leddi is represented by VIN VIN Vienna.

Exhibition made with the support of Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council.

Viola Leddi was born in 1993, in Milan (IT) and she currently lives and works between Milan and Geneva.

Education
2019/2022 - MFA Work.Master - Contemporary artistic practices, HEAD - Genève.

2012/2016 - BFA Brera Academy, Milan.
2014/2015 - Erasmus at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Painting, Copenhagen.

Solo Exhibitions: 

Current:

October 2024 - January 2025 - Pupille, curated by Marie Griffay, FRAC Champagne - Ardenne, Reims (FR)

Upcoming 
2025 - TAG Art Museum, Qingdao (CN)

Past
July 2023 - I saw stars turn into dark coals, Pace Genève (CH)
October 2022 - Strategies for invisibility - VIN VIN in Naples (IT)
June 2022 – Liste Art Fair Basel with VIN VIN Vienna, Naples (CH)
March 2019 - Creature Adorabili (Lovable Creatures), TILE project space, Milan (IT)

Group exhibitions: 

Past:
June 2024 - Double Take, curated by Lawrence van Hagen, London (GB)
April 2024 - 12.04.24, VIN VIN Vienna/Naples (AT)
December 2023 - Troubles, Ordet - Milan (IT)
October 2023 - Italian Painting Today, Triennale Milano, Milan (IT)
July 2022 - Degree show, HEAD – Genève (CH)
Mar 2022  - Madrigale, VIN VIN Vienna (AT)
Nov 2021 - Casa Flash Art Market, curated by Gea Politi, Banner, Milan (IT)
Sept 2021 - From Submersion to Subversion, Palazzina, Basel (CH)
Mar 2021 - Against The Day, Giulietta, Basel (CH)
Nov 2019 - BLADE—BANNER, SPRINT - Independent Publishers and Artist’s Books Salon, Spazio Maiocchi, Milan (IT)
Nov 2019 - Urania, curated by Zoe de Luca, Sonnenstube, Lugano (CH)
May 2018 - L’isola portatile, curated by Caterina Molteni, ADA Project, Rome (IT)
Oct 2017 - Gattacornia, Altalena, Maccagno VA

Projects: 
Co-founder of Altalena 

Talks: 
Dec 2018 - Trigger Party #20, curated by siliqoon, Marsèlleria, Milan (IT)

Residencies & Workshops: 
Sept 2019 - September Book, curated by Dallas, Fondazione ICA, Milan (IT)
July 2019 - Q-Rated: Pittura, with Enrico David, Marcello Fois, Bart van der Heide, Nuoro (IT)
April/June 2019 – Residenza La Fornace: Primavera, Spino d’Adda (CR)

Publications: 
2022 - Cover and illustrations for Gancio Cielo: DNA Clepsydra by Francesco Cavaliere, curated by Idioletta, NERO Editions
November 2019 - Illustration cover for Every Me by Costanza Candeloro, published by Altalena

Links:
Quando le muse si svegliano. Insonnia, frammentazione e fluidità come demistificazione del femminile nel lavoro di Viola Leddi by Camilla Paolino, Flash Art Italia 355 (italian).
Lovable Creatures on Mousse Magazine.
Per una pittura situata. Diego Gualandris, Viola Leddi, Giuliana Rosso, Alice Visentin by Caterina Molteni, Flash Art Italia 345 (italian).
Pittura Lingua Viva. Interview on Artribune (italian)