SMASH/BUILD the shell

"Behind the shell, a world. Inside the shell, the eternity of a single moment. Existential doubts resound: the questions of all time, the history of humankind."

23.01.2025

"Are you scared to go out?"

"I'm okay here, where I am."

The shell, by definition, is a rigid outer envelope, of varying structure and origin, with a protective function. It is something physical that separates a mass from the whole, a something from everything around it. It is a threshold, a boundary between inside and outside. A perimeter of what we know, it is the boundary that defines and protects us, but also the one that imprisons us as well. It is a physical barrier that separates and guards, as silent as the horizon when the day is lost. But it is also an existential metaphor: the shell is the enclosure we choose for ourselves, a space of silence or hesitation, refuge or prison. Inside a shell is the seed of the possible. Like a womb, it embraces life in potency: it protects the fragile becoming of being until the time comes to break through the shell and let the world in, with light and wind. It is the shell that the hermit crab calls home, the temporary nest that does not belong to it but that it needs. It is the shell that encloses the sea in its spirals and tells infinity to children who know how to listen. It is the suspended space of the amniotic fluid, where everything is pure stillness, where waiting has no weight. But the shell is also a boundary. It is the free zone that separates us from the unknown, a bulwark against the chaos that surrounds us, but also a barrier that prevents an encounter with the other. Beyond the shell lies the vastness of discovery and the terror of uncertainty. It is the crossroads between risk and safety, between the longing for freedom and the comfort of certainty.

The shell is a comfort zone, it is a space that soothes and calms you.

The shell is a limitation, an exclusion from the knowledge of the other.

The aim of SMASH / BUILD the shell is to involve (and stimulate) the artist in the multiple meanings of the term shell, without, however, pretending, conditioning his choice, even if it were only to dictate a specific interpretive approach, limiting its key. We leave it to our interlocutor to ask the question: inside or outside the shell? Risk or protection, the unknown or security? Discovery of the unknown or retreat into one's own world? Comfort zone or no man's land? Although the word has an inherently dualistic character, this does not mean that the question should be resolved exclusively within the confines of antithetical concepts; positive/negative, good/bad, right/wrong, but rather within the broader horizon of personal choice in the face of the meaning of things; therefore, the most obvious questions that could arise are: "Am I comfortable where I am?", "Do I need a 'safe haven'?", "What awaits me outside my shell, what surprises does the world hold for me, what uncertainties are outside?” Each person will find their own answer within themselves, within their own inner being. This exhibition is a path of possibilities, a suspension of judgement, an invitation to pause and contemplate. Inside the shell, outside the shell: the choice is ours alone. As Sartre writes, "Man is condemned to be free". The shell is our limit and our protection, but also the mirror of that inescapable freedom to which we are all destined.

Concept by Lisa Galletti Senior Artcurator

Art in Premiere: The MADS Art Gallery Lineup for January 23, 2025

Welcome to the future of artistic experience: the MADS Art Gallery Lineup, a groundbreaking format featuring four exhibitions in a single day, delivering endless emotions.

On January 23, 2025, MADS Art Gallery unveils an unprecedented event: four international art exhibitions, carefully curated to reflect the diversity and uniqueness of global artistic expression, all showcased simultaneously in our innovative interactive multimedia gallery.

Each exhibition will be a captivating chapter, ready to inspire the mind and soul, with its own visual language and emotional universe. Our lineup is like the schedule of an art cinema, where each artist has the opportunity to choose the "screening" that best aligns with their style and vision.

A true journey through diverse artistic experiences, unfolding like a series of thrilling films.

The Lineup for January 23, 2025:

• "SMASH/BUILD the shell"

• "BELOW THE SURFACE"

• "INVISIBLE CONNECTION"

• "FIL ROUGE"

Artists, this is your moment.

Don’t wait any longer: choose the exhibition that best represents you and become a key player in this artistic revolution. MADS Art Gallery is where your art isn’t just displayed—it’s experienced, interpreted, and shared.