Exhibition view, GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA x HIT, 2024. Photo Julien Gremaud.
Alfredo Aceto & Chloé Delarue & Denis Savary & Clément Grimm & Thomas Liu Le Lann & Finn Massie & Eliot Möwes
GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA x HIT Group ShowMarch 20th - May 24th 2024
Exhibition view, GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA x HIT, 2024. Photo Johanna Bommer.
From March 20th to May 24th, GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA invites the artist-run space HIT for a joint exhibition. Opening on Tuesday March 19th, in the presence of the artists.
The port of Aquarama
A splendid contemporary house stands on the edge of the Eaux-Vives district. The spectacular bay window of GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA looks out over the trees of Parc La Grange. The work "Le port de l'Aquarama" by artist Clément Grimm is installed on its façade on occasion of this new show, expressing the building’s contradictory relationship with the canton's most enviable panorama. It also tells the story of the destination of this once inhabited place, now devoted to its exhibitions and artists in residence, while retaining its domestic nature with its hall, large living room, bedrooms, terrace and open kitchen.
Exhibition view, GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA x HIT, 2024. Photo Julien Gremaud.
A port like a transition, a mooring point that you join for a day, a month, a season before setting sail again. Until June, it is one of Geneva's independent art spaces that has been invited to tie up here. Led by Anne Minazio, HIT is moving its showroom in Plainpalais and its exhibition space next to the train station to the other side of the harbour. A move in the truest sense of the word, with furniture, paintings, sculptures, photos and crockery. And, of course, with the gang of Swiss and international artists who bring these places to life, where art meets fashion, design and architecture.
Exhibition view, GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA x HIT, 2024. Photo Julien Gremaud.
A change of scenery. Inside the villa, the works of art occupy the smallest interstice. The gang has pushed the furniture out of the way of the walls. Alfredo Aceto's infinite hands circle the entrance hall. Denis Savary's Bugatti blue anteaters have taken up residence in the patio. The daybeds by Clément Grimm and the Californian collective Pirates! L.A. have replaced the couches. Paintings by Eliot Möwes and Finn Massie cover the walls. A work by Chloé Delarue is noticed. In one room, above the bed, Thomas Liu Le Lann projects an original film on the ceiling. Elsewhere in the house, white glass fly traps look like modern sculptures. There's even a boat in dry dock, trapped in an upstairs bedroom, which can be viewed through a window in the living room. Aquarama lives up to its name.
Exhibition view, GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA x HIT, 2024. Photo Julien Gremaud.
In the kitchen, more paintings and stacks of ceramic plates designed by Thomas Liu Le Lann and Alfredo Aceto. These new limited editions will be used for the dinners that HIT regularly organises behind the train station. This time, the two-course meal will be served by the brigades of artist Clara Roumégoux and Chez Papa Grandee, led by artist Grandee Dorji. Around the table, guests from all over the world will eat, drink and debate, surrounded by smoke and paintings. And the meals will stretch far into the wobbly night.
At the start of summer, HIT will be packing up its sense of style and total art, while GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA will be hosting a residency of Brazilian artist Regina Parra, in preparation for her new exhibition opening in September.
Exhibition view, GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA x HIT, 2024. Photo Julien Gremaud.
What will remain of this invitation, this meeting between two houses, is the abundance of forms and ideas, the freshness of generous exchanges and, who knows, perhaps the promise of a return journey.
Emmanuel Grandjean
Exhibition view, GALERIE MIGHELA SHAMA x HIT, 2024. Photo Julien Gremaud.