Mariagrazia Abbaldo Paolo Albertelli - Alone Together

For the first time, works by Mariagrazia Abbaldo and Paolo Albertelli (Studio C&C) are being exhibited in Schaan at the bechter kastowsky gallery. A catalog accompanying the exhibition features an essay by Günther Oberhollenzer, the artistic director of the Künstlerhaus Wien. The following press release consists of excerpts from the original text titled “Listening to Place.”

“There are works that transform a place. And there are works that make it speak. The works of Studio C&C belong to that second, rare category. They do not enter the landscape to mark or dominate it. Rather, they emerge from an attentive dialogue with what they find there. (…) Their art begins where design merges with perception. (…) The artists define spaces not through mass, but through interstices; not through abundance, but through openness. The invisible takes on the same significance as the visible. Light becomes material. Shadow becomes form. Silence becomes part of the composition. (…)

The works never speak exclusively of themselves. They speak of the wind sweeping through a structure. Of the changing seasons. Of the slow transformation of a surface. Of the viewer’s footsteps, which are what first bring the space to life. The place does not become a stage for art; it becomes its co-creator. In this lies a remarkable form of humility. Studio C&C understands design not as an act of control, but as an exercise in listening. The artistic gesture takes a back seat to what it seeks to make visible. An aesthetic of attention emerges—a practice aimed less at production than at resonance. (…)

“We have always believed that there is no difference between an architect and an artist,” say Albertelli and Abbaldo. For them, the architectural scale opens up the possibility of conceiving sculpture as a space that can be walked through and experienced. A sculpture becomes architecture when it transforms the place in which it is embedded and imbues it with new qualities. It is not merely an object in space, but actively contributes to its shaping. In this way, architecture and sculpture intertwine to form a spatial experience that subtly shapes people’s everyday lives. (…) Paolo Albertelli and Mariagrazia Abbaldo view their works as an invitation to engage. They do not provide ready-made answers, but rather open up spaces for curiosity, sensation, and imagination. When their works evoke a “beautiful emotion” and awaken the desire to view the world through new eyes, they have achieved their goal. (…)

Thus, (in Schaan) one can see works that elude quick consumption. They demand time—and at the same time, they give it back. Those who encounter them do not leave with a clear-cut message, but with a new perspective. Perhaps this is precisely the most lasting form of artistic experience: when it is not just the work itself that remains in one’s memory, but the world appears a little different afterward.”

Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.