Ambarabà Ciccì Coccò, with Denis Savary

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Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen

, 2021

The artistic practices of Alfredo Aceto and Denis Savary – both of whom live in the Romandie and maintain friendly relations – are as close as they are different. What they have in common is that they twist existing forms or imagine new ones across different media and charge them with unexpected meanings. In their first joint exhibition “Ambarabà Ciccì Coccò,” the two artists create a fragmentary installation in which different layers of cultural signs are brought together. The title of the exhibition, borrowed from an Italian counting-out rhyme, is a linguistic expression of what permeates the spaces: An arrangement of myriad signs that evoke associations and condense into narratives. The works slipperily elude clear designation and - like the fantasised words 'Ambarabà Ciccì Coccò' - feed on their multiple levels of meaning. Forms and functions are inspired by a wide variety of sources, including art historical myths about Kurt Schwitters or the mythical creature Gargoyle, airports or bathrooms. This detachment from and oscillation between fixed meanings allows for a certain freedom in relating to the works and in the connections that can be established between them.