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Il paradosso di tenere mentre si dà is a dual solo exhibition featuring the works of artists Mariella Bettineschi and Yelena Yemchuk. The exhibition presents a curated selection of pieces—both photographs and paintings—drawn from various projects by the two artists.
Although Bettineschi and Yemchuk come from different generations and have distinct artistic backgrounds, they are united by a deeply feminist practice and a profoundly personal approach that infuses their work. Their practices explore themes of memory, identity, and the act of giving through a lens that is both intimate and reflective.
Bettineschi’s work is characterized by a process of reinterpretation and rewriting. Her practice involves a continuous dialogue with her images—photographs that are printed, altered through material interventions such as the addition of pearls or fabrics, and then re-photographed. This layered process creates complex works that embody her ongoing reflections and lived experiences, offering a textured visual narrative that is as much about the act of creation as about the final image.
Yelena Yemchuk’s oeuvre presents a portrayal of female figures that deliberately distances itself from contemporary stereotypes. Her subjects are complex, imperfect yet captivating women—figures that command attention and challenge superficial representations. Yemchuk’s images evoke a sense of depth and authenticity, inviting viewers to engage with the nuanced realities of her subjects.
The title, Il paradosso di tenere mentre si dà, references the subtitle of an anthropological book by Annette B. Weiner, which discusses indigenous objects capable of retaining the spiritual essence of their givers. In this context, the exhibition becomes a journey into the personal and collective imaginaries of the artists, where their experiences and memories are offered as gifts to the viewer. It opens a space for contemplating contemporary art as a form of intangible giving—an act of sharing the very essence of the artist’s inner world.
Mariella Bettineschi was born in Brescia in 1948. She graduated from the Giacomo Carrara Academy of Fine Arts in Bergamo in 1970. Her work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in public and private spaces, including L’era successiva e altri racconti at z2o Sara Zanin Gallery (2023), Notturno Più at the Venice Biennale (2019), and Da Duchamp a Cattelan: Arte Contemporanea al Palatino in Rome (2017).
Yelena Yemchuk lives and works in New York. Born in Kyiv (Ukraine) in 1970, she moved to the United States at age eleven. She studied Visual Arts at Parsons School of Design and later Photography at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Yemchuk has collaborated as a fashion photographer with publications such as Vogue, Dazed & Confused, AnOther, Numéro, TAR Magazine, and The New Yorker. Her exhibitions include Gidropark at Gitterman Gallery, New York (2011); Ten Years After at the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, Turin (2006); Sensitive at the Dactu Foundation, New York (2004); and No Vacancy at Eastwick Gallery, Chicago (2001).
Press kit: link
Il paradosso di tenere mentre si dà
From May 16 to September 17, 2023
Metronom, Via carteria 10, 41121, Modena
