The Lives of Animals

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“It is true that animals are usually not able to participate in their liberation, but they behave differently when they are liberated and have better living conditions.”
— Speaking Beyond Language: Lin May Saeed Interviewed

Piero Gilardi

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08 June - 22 September 2024
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Piero Gilardi (1940–2023) was an Italian artist, theorist and activist of Swiss descent. In the 1960s, he was one of the protagonists of Arte Povera, an avant-garde movement that critically reflected on the rapid commercialisation of art. Deeply concerned with the complex relationship between humans and nature, art and life, his practice tackled themes such as ecology and biodiversity, the use of new technology, and social and political engagement. Gilardi organ­ised satirical street theatre and political actions, designing posters, costumes and puppets and protesting against the industrialisation of agriculture. He was a founder and director of the Living Art Park, an experimental centre for contemporary art in nature in his home city of Turin. 

He is best known for his Tappeto-Natura, or ‘Nature Carpets’ – biomorphic artworks made of polyurethane foam combined with technological elements that mimic realistic landscapes such as seashores. Although works such as his interactive log Aigues Tortes (2007) are made of artificial materials, they reconsider the antagonistic relationship between nature and culture while pre­senting both nature and art as some­thing to be experienced. 


Piero Geraldi, Aporrhai, 2020

Exhibited works:
Aigues Tortes, 2007
Aporrhai, 2020
Spiaggia nera, 1989
Courtesy Fondazione Piero Gilardi and Michel Rein, Paris/Brussels

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