DOUBLE PARADISO
“Double Paradiso is the first exhibition at the Mandet museum dedicated to an Italian artist since Made in Italy in 1986.
My inspiring meeting with designer Matteo Cibic in September 2023 in Riom was the starting point for developing projects and partnerships.
Together we envisaged a retrospective, a common thread, around desires and deadly sins, a wander through a garden of entertainment, as a metaphor for the human soul.
This exhibition is also a showcase for artisanship, such as the Vasonaso ceramics, which were handmade by the designer, and various decorative arts : glass, sculpture and mixed works which illustrate the diversity of these creations, while reflecting the spirit of the works in the Mandet museum collections.”
Starting in the museum’s main courtyard, amusement is at the heart of Matteo Cibic’s work. A wreath of flowers springs from a monumental statue, becoming the head of a hypothetical character. The designer plays with the traditional features of ancient figure monuments by distorting this classical image and presenting a new version of the ancient hero statue. The expression « making ideas flourish » is at the heart of his reflection.
At the Mandet museum, which is transformed into a pleasure garden, Matteo Cibic explores the world of dreams, desires and sins. He finds his inspiration in the folies, the equivalent of the Vauxhall pleasure gardens created at the end of the 18th century to amuse aristocrats. Seven different spaces within the museum, each with its own particular scenography, are designed to create the impression of a spontaneous journey into the human spirit.
The counterpart to Pinocchio’s famous elongated nose is presented in the Vasonaso collection, exhibited in the main room of the Mandet museum.
A selection from the Vasonaso collection is displayed in a yellow kiosk, the color of gold coins, and symbol of opulence and avarice.
Glass poison vases, ceramic pharmacy bottles, pill containers, syrups and powders are captivating and become the subjects of dreams. Protected behind glass panes, like the objects in store windows, they are a source of desire and become the receptacle of hypothetical possibilities.
The color green, a symbol of hope, rebirth but also of desire, jealousy, chance and fate, strengthens the ambivalent symbolism associated with the works.
In the large exhibition room, paintings from the collections of the Mandet museum, bas-reliefs and imposing trees welcome you to enjoy the space and the pleasures it has to offer. Matteo Cibic offers an immersion into a garden of abundance and lust, in the first sense of the term, from the Latin luxuria, excess and profusion. He allows himself a folly, a term used for describing princely summer residences from the 18th century because of their extravagant architecture and often purely entertaining function.
The small domsai vases with unique hand-blown glass domes invite the visitor to stroll through the museum’s paintings. Like little astronauts, they beckon you to explore the museum differently, and see it as a place of life and entertainment. The landscape depicted in the paintings changes upon meeting them.
Reviving the ancient paradox between otium, leisure time, and negotium, business time, Matteo Cibic suggests a meditation. This ode to laziness invites the visitor to rest for a while and enjoy the moment.
As the last step of the journey through this garden of entertainment, Matteo Cibic suggests giving in to the temptation of greed. Dazzling, vibrant and generous, this pavilion offers a well-deserved break.
This room encourages a (re)discovery of the collections of the Mandet museum for the pure pleasure of the eyes…
Matteo Cibic simultaneously presents two exhibitions at the Mandet museum (Act 1) and at the Regional Museum of Auvergne (Act 2) from 15 June 2024 to 23 February 2025.
