Bruna Esposito
b. 1960, Italy
Italian installation and performance artist, born 1960
The works of Bruna Esposito can be compared to poetic compositions, where power and lightness continually encounter each other in an apparently fragile balance, capable, however, of opening up profound spaces of reflection. Her installations are metaphorical places that can contain a multiplicity of interpretations, setting up conditions for a direct dialogue with each individual visitor. Skillfully calibrated, Esposito’s pieces are often constructed with an intentional economy of means, according to choices that favor rigor more than a search for spectacularity. The artist uses a wide range of materials, favoring above all those that do not pertain to the artistic tradition, but instead belong to life experience. The elements and objects that make up her installations often manifest their own history, and the artist accepts their natural decay and the consequent ephemeral nature of the works she has created. In addition to tangible elements, Esposito’s pieces often include aromas, modulations of natural light, foods and sounds, which makes it difficult to describe these works. The moment of encounter with the visitor is absolutely fundamental, to the point where words or visual documents can only fragmentarily restore an experience that involves not only the sense of sight, but also hearing and smell, with temporal modalities and developments skillfully arranged by the artist. Bruna Esposito has received numerous prestigious international awards, including, in 1999, the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, along with the other artists selected for the Italian Pavilion.