Swiss artist Luciano Castelli began engaging deeply with Japan as early as the early 1980s. In the exhibition Whispers of Japan, he builds on this long-standing fascination: earlier works are placed in dialogue with previously unpublished photographs dedicated to the melancholic soul dance Butoh. Combined with pieces in his unmistakable, gestural, and powerful painting style, this forms a new and complex body of work.
At the center of the exhibition are paintings on paravents, traditionally crafted specifically for this show. Alongside them, he conquers the exhibition space with brushwork that approaches the calligraphic. Continuing the tradition of his spectacular performances—such as at the Kaufhaus Jahndorf in Berlin or in 2016 at the SPSI Art Museum in Shanghai, where he spontaneously painted the entire museum interior—he deliberately pushes the boundaries of conventional art presentation. The result is an intense, atmospheric experience in which painting and architecture seamlessly merge.
