The Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation is pleased to present Ellipse and Ellipsis – a multimedia exhibition curated by Vittoria de Franchis, featuring works by Anthea Hamilton, Gabriella Hirst, Jasper Marsalis, Jota Mombaça, Sandra Mujinga, Objects of Common Interest, and Acousmonium ODAE. Introducing the Foundation’s new visual identity designed by Nationhood, the exhibition opens on 21 March followed by a movement performance by Maëva Berthelot on 22 March.
Through art, sound, and design, Ellipse and Ellipsis unfolds as a manifesto of possibilities and a site for immersive speculation to explore how we navigate the unknown, and how we relate to otherness. The ellipse, a shape with two focal points, suggests that our perspective is always shaped by something else – another person, another idea, another reality. The ellipsis, a punctuation mark that signals a pause or omission, represents what is left unsaid or yet to be understood. With the ellipse and ellipsis as guiding tropes, the exhibition speculates on these moments of uncertainty and transformation – how gaps in knowledge, language, and perception can open up space for new meanings. Through sound, form, and movement, the works invite visitors to engage with shifting perspectives, and the cycles of repetition and change.
Familiar elements that typically underpin the structure and organisation of a space – a wall, a plant, a chair, a soundtrack – are activated, taking on newly ambiguous roles. Anthea Hamilton’s The Scrambled Sky transforms the sky into an ethereal, conceptual, digital threshold, prompting an exercise in imagination to invite new perspectives on perception and the unknown. Gabriella Hirst’s Body Garden sees a living installation of medicinal plants named after body parts and treatments, challenging anthropocentric views and highlighting interspecies reciprocity. Objects of Common Interest introduce the Inflatable Chair, born from a desire to break free from the constraints of traditional materials and forms. Blurring the line between the dreamlike and the functional, it adapts to the natural form of the body and invites visitors to contribute to a shifting topography shaped by their intuition, movements, and desires.
The Acousmonium ODAE – a custom-built, hi-fi sound system designed and hand-crafted by musician Neuf Voix, serves as both sculpture and auditory architecture. Inspired by the pioneering Acousmonium developed by François Bayle in the 1970s, this system features ten distinct speakers, each calibrated to a specific frequency range. Diffusing commissioned sound works that evolve over time, they are presented in a continuous looping format with sound pieces by artists Jasper Marsalis (21 June – 25 April), Sandra Mujinga (26 April – 23 May), and Jota Mombaça (24 May – 21 June).
Ellipse and Ellipsis is the first in a series of curatorial explorations at the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation examining context as a tangible and intangible architecture by Vittoria de Franchis. Featuring works from the collection alongside newly commissioned and site-specific pieces, it also introduces the Foundation’s new visual identity, designed by Nationhood. The exhibition is made possible with the kind support of Emalin, Delfina Foundation, kaufman repetto, Hoxton Gardenware, and Troy Town.