The exhibition
OPEN MY GLADE (FLATTEN)
Open My Glade is a series of one-minute films designed for large-scale broadcast on architectural facades and advertising screens. Competing with the highly glamorized commercial images, the artist offers a disturbing performance: she presses her face against the screen to the point of contorting her own features and crushing her make-up to the surface, as if imprisoned behind the screen and trying in vain to free herself from it. Her facial deformations evoke the same sense of claustrophobia and confinement that can result from our contemporary society's dependence on screens and technology.
Cloistered behind a barrier that is both literal and metaphorical, Pipilotti Rist challenges the obsessive delusions of celebrity and idealized representations of beauty. The grotesque scene overturns the image of femininity conventionally projected in the media, releasing a form of resistance to the oppressive forces that undermine women's autonomy.
In keeping with its commitment to public art, EXMURO presents this work in the large windows at the rear of its exhibition space, visible from Côte de la Montagne.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
PIPILOTTI RIST
Internationally renowned Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist is revolutionizing video art with her immersive, color-saturated installations. Her work explores intimacy, sensuality and perception, creating sensory worlds where dream and reality merge. Through haunting images, she questions the relationship between the body, nature and technology, inviting viewers into a unique immersive experience. Inspired by popular culture, she hijacks visual codes to surprise and stimulate reflection. Discover her fascinating universe at the EXMURO Public Area.
Credit photo : Anthony Anex, Keystone
Credit photo : Anthony Anex, KeystoneTHEMATIC PROGRAMMING 2025
ART ON THE EDGE OF CHAOS
For its 2025 program, EXMURO's Aire publique becomes the stage for artistic explorations in which humans are subjected to the powerful impulses of natural forces. Works by Pipilotti Rist (Switzerland), Isaac Cordal (Spain) and Martin Bureau (Quebec) subvert norms and reinterpret our assumptions, confronting the insidious forces of capitalism, patriarchy and the climate crisis. Sharing critical visions of the world, the three artists invite us to become collectively aware of the urgency to act, and remind us that every collapse holds the promise of renewal.
PARTNERS
We would like to acknowledge the invaluable collaboration of the Hauser & Wirth gallery, the Luhring Augustine gallery and Atelier Rist GmbH.
The EXMURO public area is supported by the Royal Square Enhancement and Animation Fund, administered by the Museum of Civilization.
