Marc Jancou Contemporary is delighted to present Paolo Colombo With Carlo Mollino our first physical exhibition since re-opening our offsite location in Rossinière, Switzerland. The exhibition, which opens on the 14th of June and runs until the 11th of July brings together new works by Paolo Colombo, including two hand woven carpets specially made for the Chalet, and a unique selection of Carlo Mollino’s legendary polaroids. 

“Do Paolo Colombo and Carlo Mollino have something in common?” wonders Alain Elkann in the text he contributed to the show catalogue. “Yes they are Turinese,” he answers “but they haven’t followed the porticoes and parallel and perpendicular streets surrounded by the Alps. They are Turinese in the sense of being different just as Turin is different from all of the other Italian cities.” 

Holding this difference together, drawing on a sense of intimacy and a notion of forging connections which seems to drive the works, the juxtaposition aims to highlight Colombo and Mollino’s distinctive creative paths and to encapsulate something of the perpetual freshness that is the result of these singular approaches. 

Colombo described Marc Jancou’s original suggestion of showing new work in dialogue with Mollino’s polaroids as inebriating and it’s easy to see why. Mollino’s name, as Colombo describes, was mentioned frequently in their hometown of Turin while he was growing up. Known as an eccentric, bizarre even, Mollino deviated from the norms set by the post-war bourgeois society to carve a path that is above all else unique despite never actually leaving the Piedmontese city. Paolo Colombo on the contrary, left Turin shortly after his early childhood years and has since then travelled far and wide carving a similarly singular and multi-faceted creative path. 

In a career that spanned more than four decades, renowned architect and designer Carlo Mollino (1905-1973) worked on buildings, furniture, interiors, cars and scenic sets among other things. During the last 14 years of his life he also produced a series of staged erotic photographs of women out of his Turin studio, a small selection of which is on display in Paolo Colombo With Carlo Mollino. 

Also born in Turin (1949) Paolo Colombo is an artist and curator. Returning to his own artistic practice after a long break Colombo works solely with watercolours and pencil creating works on paper that are poetic and lyrical, borrowing from painting and drawing, as well as poetry. His artistic practice complements a rich curatorial one which includes working as an Art Advisor for the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, curating the 6th Istanbul Biennale and most recently the Iraqi Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale.  

The exhibition is accompanied by a limited edition catalogue with texts by Andrea Applebee and Alain Elkann and a special insert on Carlo Mollino. 

For appointments to visit the show please contact :
info@marcjancou.com