Rebecca Horn Exhibition Opens at Castello di Rivoli: A Retrospective of a Groundbreaking German Artist

The Castello di Rivoli, a landmark of Modern Art in Italy, is currently hosting the Rebecca Horn Exhibition, “Leaving Scars in the Past.” This major Art Exhibition Italy marks the first large-scale retrospective in Italy of the influential German Artist, and arrives following her death in September of last year. The Castello di Rivoli Exhibition offers a profound look at Horn’s diverse body of work.

A Core Installation: Exploring Themes of Touch and Trauma

Central to the exhibition is the powerful eponymous installation from 1992–1993. It features a spear rotating around a vertical axis, piercing through narrow slits in wooden doors. According to Marcella Beccaria, the museum’s chief curator, the spear’s gliding movements evoke a complex interplay, poised somewhere between “a caress and a surgical incision,” highlighting the artist’s exploration of intimacy and vulnerability.

A Collaboration Showcasing Horn’s Choreographic Vision

The Rebecca Horn Exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Haus der Kunst in Munich, where a significant retrospective of Horn’s oeuvre was presented shortly before her passing. That exhibition emphasized the choreographic elements within her work, tracing a trajectory from the early 1970s performances featuring “body extensions” to the monumental installations of the 1990s. Curator Jana Baumann emphasizes the need for precise curation when presenting Horn’s complex works, stating that the exhibition at the Castello di Rivoli Exhibition offers a unique lens, focused on the spiritual dimensions of her later period and on the consistent presence of drawing as a foundational element throughout her artistic journey.

Tracing the Line: From Early Sketches to Bodylandscapes

The exhibition pays particular attention to Horn’s early drawings, which depict the female body as a potent source of energy. This theme reaches its zenith in the Bodylandscapes series of the 2000s and 2010s. Early video performances, such as “The Lonely Dancer” (1978), form another essential component, reflecting the artist’s personal experiences of illness and isolation during her formative years, and exploring themes of temporality and the delicate balance between constraint and freedom.

Cyclical Motifs and the Buddhist Wheel of Time

The circle serves as a recurring motif throughout Horn’s artistic vocabulary, from the protective imagery of wings and cocoons in her 1970s performances to the later drawings, where the circle’s radius echoes the span of the artist’s outstretched arms. The exhibition culminates with the sculpture “Wheel of Time” (2016), a compelling reference to the Buddhist concept of cyclical existence, adding another layer to the exhibition’s exploration of life, death, and rebirth.

The Manica Lunga: An Architectural Reflection of Horn’s Themes

The Castello di Rivoli Exhibition is situated within the “Long Sleeve” (Manica Lunga) of the castle. This narrow, corridor-like space compels visitors to proceed in a single direction before retracing their steps, underscoring the cyclical nature and themes of repetition that are central to German Artist Rebecca Horn’s multifaceted and thought-provoking work within the realm of Contemporary Art.