Julien Friedler returns to Italy with a major new exhibition in Venice , at the same time as the 59th Biennial International Art Exhibition . From 23 April to 25 September 2022, the Church of San Samuele will host Comedy is over , an installation curated by Dominique Stella in which the Belgian artist investigates three different fundamental experiences of life: Pain , Melancholy and Hope .
Friedler dedicates a specific installation to each theme, developing a spiritual meditation that unfolds within the spaces offered by the basilica plan of the Church of San Samuele to Venice.
In the right aisle Friedler stages the mystery of human pain with Les Innocents (2000), one of his best-known installations ; there nave left side however, she is busy from a job very recent, Les Pierrots (2019) , where it stands out a multitude of expression masks frowning and melancholy ; in the nave central find space , finally , the columns they make up La Forêt des  mes (2009), installation traveling that invites hope to place in the four corners of the globe universal questions.
It is no coincidence, therefore, that this project is introduced own in the context of the Church Of St. Samuel. The church is a place of meditation, prayer, meeting, celebration and mystery, it is also a place of inner research, which leads us on the path of spiritual questions. The artist's intent is to offer universal food for thought, inviting us to discover ourselves, and also to become aware of the other.
There is no lightness in these works by Friedler, the title of the exhibition indicates it : The comedy is over . The fulcrum of his work, as the artist points out, remains forever «The inner life and its relationship with an expression of the sacred; his relationship with the enigmatic Creator with many faces, it has arisen since the dawn of time, and its thought remains omnipresent in man, despite the changes of form».
Pain, melancholy, hope. Each of the three themes is complementary to the others, and the set of works, enriched by some canvases and photographs, offers a time of meditative suspension on the meaning of life, death and a possible redemption.
JULIEN FRIEDLER. THE COMEDY IS OVER
23.04.2022 – 25.09.2022
SAINT SAMUEL CHURCH
Campo San Samuele, 30124 Venice (VE)
Curator: Dominique Stella.
Production and organization: Carlo Silvestrin,
Art Study CD.
Opening hours: 10.00 – 18.00 (Tuesday – Sunday). Free admission.
Closed: Monday.
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