STUDIO STEFANIA MISCETTI is delighted to present il danno (The Damage), the second solo exhibition of Silvia Giambrone’s work at the gallery, featuring a series of new pieces created specifically for the exhibition. These include the lightbox Dollhouse (2018), several sculptures – Il danno (2018), Mirrors (2018) and Frames (2018) – and the collage Icone (Icons) (2017-2018).

In the artist’s imaginary the notion of “damage” refers to a silently and deceitfully inflicted wound, which cuts very deep. It may not be physical, or visible to the eye, but not for all that less significant for the individual subjected to it. The preeminent environment in which this form of violence is enacted is the domestic sphere. As much a psychological as a real space, by breaking away from a concept which should by definition be connected to the reliable and familiar, the domestic, private world becomes the site of an exercise in coercion – an education in subjugation that becomes both language and system, one conceded to and acted on by both victim and perpetrator. In this context, rather than being the mute observers of the relationship dynamics established, alienated from their context and purpose, objects acquire the potential for renewed meaning, whether in terms of aesthetic value or their ability to bear witness. The pieces on show thus acquire an emblematic status, forcing us not only to recognise the mechanisms of oppression – and become aware, in our turn, of the role we play as witnesses or accomplices – but inviting us to reflect on the various gradations of violence, and the possibilities it can reveal. In this sense, although it may appear to present itself as an insurmountable barrier, the space in which violence exists can become the fertile terrain on which, fierce and painful as it may be, the foundations are laid for a cathartic and liberating reaction.

“Those who have been damaged are dangerous, because they know they can survive.”
Josephine Hart, Damage, 1991 – Damage, 1992 film directed by Louis Malle.