16.02–20.07.2025

Curated by
Francesca Benini

Many Moons is Louisa Gagliardi’s (b. Sion, 1989) first major institutional exhibition in Switzerland. It unfolds in a narrative that initially seems to follow the rules of a traditional presentation of painted works but subsequently reveals unexpected implications. Two smaller rooms open along the perimeter walls, housing large site-specific cycles that transform the space into evocative painted chambers. The technique of the individual works also comes as a surprise: Gagliardi does not paint using traditional methods but on a computer, with a mouse instead of a paintbrush, drawing on a variety of aesthetic registers ranging from popular culture to art history. The digitally created images are then printed on vinyl, stretched on frames, and finished with varnish, gels, or glitter. This final step, carried out by hand, is just one of many elements – such as the visual references, spatial structure, and choice of subjects – that root Gagliardi’s works in the genre of painting, leaving the viewer uncertain as to the nature of her art.

The subjects also evoke ambiguity and mystery: Scenes steeped in silence, dreamlike atmospheres, and enigmatic features tie Gagliardi’s art to twentieth-century pictorial currents such as metaphysical painting, surrealism, and magic realism. However, unlike her predecessors, she also gives voice to the profound change that characterizes the post-internet era. Today, our perception of ourselves and our image has been radically transformed, while the distinction between what is real and what is artificially created is more blurred. Gagliardi uses trompe l’oeil, mirroring, and unusual perspectives to encourage viewers to look beyond the painted surface. Her imaginary worlds often conceal a reflection on the complexities of modern life, as she explores new themes such as identity, social transformations, and the relationship between individuals and their environment from a unique viewpoint.

Nature, Urban Space, and the Domestic Sphere

Works like Night Caps (2022), Swamped (2024), and Jackpot (2024) conjure up dystopian visions where outer landscapes mingle with inner ones. In these images, it is animals and plants that expand and interfere with human activities, overturning our anthropomorphized scenarios to offer a version in which it is nature that prevails over humans. Other works, such as those displayed on the wall to the right of the entrance, are dominated by urban settings. In scenes with a retro-futurist feel, nature bursts in via seemingly random details: The great tits in Birds of a Feather (2023), the peaches scattered on the ground in Climbing (2024), or the brambles among the tiles in Quiet Exit (2023) are discordant elements that instill an uneasiness in the viewer. Our relationship with nature is a recurring theme in Gagliardi’s work, one that she tackles without ever adopting a moralistic, judgmental, or, less still, didactic stance, but leaving the viewer with the sensation of a thought that has already been formulated, a sense of déjà-vu possibly associated with an inner experience.

The artist is also interested in the domestic sphere, an ideal setting for combining familiar and foreign elements, creating a sense of disruption. Fascination erupts from the everyday, sometimes barely perceptible, like the inconsistency of the reflections in Cascade (2023); sometimes predominant, as in the dreamlike scenes of Chaperons (2023) and Roundabout (2023). In the latter work, a group of figures walks around an overturned chandelier, casting long, vibrant shadows that stand out against the uniformity of the surrounding white. The shadows seem to take on a life of their own and emerge from the rest thanks to large, visible brushstrokes that give them a sense of movement and a sculptural quality, reinforcing the flickering sensation caused by the candle flames.

Faces and Bodies

Most of Gagliardi’s works are populated by figures: Some seem to be hidden portraits; others have generic faces with blue and green complexions, similar to avatars; others are on the verge of vanishing. It is not so much transparency that interests the artist as emptiness: The figures become vessels into which viewers can project themselves. Regardless of their appearance, all the subjects share a sense of incommunicability, appearing disconnected even when depicted in a group. For example, in the work titled Green Room (2023), the seven figures seated next to each other on a long circular sofa seem unable to establish any relationship with one another. The unusual barrier is amplified by the presence of two dogs glimpsed in the background, outside the room. Their visual bond creates a tension and movement made even more palpable by the leashes straining to each side. However, a closer look reveals that the animals are not outside but painted on three canvases simulating windows. The illusion of an alternative reality, capable of fostering dialogue, dissolves in a game of make believe and appearances.

Attention to Detail

Nothing is left to chance in Gagliardi’s works. Her attention to detail is one of the most fascinating features of her images, and it also determines the most engaging way of looking at them. After the first impression, which can leave a sense of bewilderment, tiny details lost in the overall view gradually emerge. As the eye moves from one point to another, new planes seem to open up, transforming our perception of the painted space. What initially appeared to be a single surface suddenly reveals a more complex stratification, recalling the layered structure of the programs with which the artist works.

The constant zoom-in/zoom-out movement performed by viewers echoes that of the artist to enlarge and reduce the image on her screen, enabling the potentially infinite refinement of details. This endless retouching, using computerized tools, is closely associated with the maniacal way in which we curate our image in the everyday metaverse. Similarly, the voyeuristic inclination that Gagliardi’s works may awaken recalls the desire to spy on the intimacy of others, magnified by new online social habits.

Curtain Calls

Paintings of two almost identical seated figures hang on either side of the doorway to the room, watching those about to cross the threshold. The sense of being watched intensifies our awareness of the transition, and once inside, viewers come face-to-face with a monumental cycle reminiscent of Renaissance frescoes, which used to transform whole rooms into immersive works. Gagliardi masters the laws of perspective and, following a rhythm marked by repetitions and breaks, creates the illusion of a space that extends beyond the real one. The depth, composed of planes that open into the background like windows into the unconscious, seems to reveal gateways to the imagination, making the visitor feel as though they could walk across the surface of the painting. The artist plays not only with simulating the continuity of the room but also with the reverse movement, whereby the painted world seems to invade the exhibition space. The armchairs House Sitting (2025), available to visitors, can also be understood in this sense: By customizing the famous LC2 chair designed by architect Le Corbusier in 1928, Gagliardi gives a new meaning to the design icon that can be fully grasped when placed in relation to the paintings. The object is present in both the works and the physical space in front of the visitor, where it further complicates the boundary between dimensions with trompe-l’oeil effects printed on the cushions. The ambiguity between reality and representation is a central theme in Gagliardi’s art. The act of creating an alternative world through painting, which can be visually entered, is inevitably linked to the ability of digital media to extend our living space and generate a parallel reality that can be inhabited not only mentally.

Streaming

Upon entering the room, visitors are swathed in shades of blue and green that radically alter their perception of their surroundings. The space is dominated by two monumental figures, depicted while sleeping. The masterful perspectival foreshortening and the drapes covering the bodies are reminiscent of famous models of the past. Indeed, references to medieval and Renaissance art are not uncommon in Gagliardi’s art and can often be seen in her compositional choices. In this case, she plays with the solemnity of sacred art to expose viewers to a very intimate scene. While impressive for their size, the two unconscious bodies appear vulnerable, and those who enter have the sensation of violating an extremely private sphere. Sleep is the only moment of true abandonment in which we have no control over ourselves nor how others see us – unlike online, where we are constantly managing and editing our image, trying to make it match the idea we wish to convey. The blurred background and ethereal tones immerse the figures in a dimension between dream and reality; even the surface on which they are lying seems to dissolve into waterfalls. On the surface of the works, we can discern a series of objects that almost appear engraved, evoking the inscriptions and graffiti with which frescoes and walls of buildings have been vandalized since ancient times. These simple still lifes invade the oneiric space and float over the bodies, like fragments of a dream on the edge of our subconscious.

Contrasting the plasticity of the painted figures, accentuated by the drapery, are two sculptures whose ambiguous three-dimensionality is disorientating. Like paintings cut out and set in space, discs composed of enormous wristwatches present an object that is also intimate and private: the last thing we leave on the bedside table before retiring for the night. Imbued with emotional value and often personalized, watches can become symbols of identity, used to recount the uniqueness of their wearer. These volume-less sculptures encourage us to reflect on how, in a digitized age, some objects continue to find meaning in their physicality alone.

A catalogue in English and Italian juxtaposing Gagliardi’s works with literary texts has been published to coincide with the exhibition. Working closely with the artist, MASI Lugano invited three young writers to engage with her art and produce original contributions for the book. Short stories by Noëmi Lerch and Sara Catella and poems by Micah Schippa-Wildfong alternate with the artist’s works, resulting in an interdisciplinary book that offers readers an interpretation of the contemporary zeitgeist, a visual and literary landscape to explore and identify with.