Christian Fogarolli's First German Solo Show Explores 'Stone of Madness'

Christian Fogarolli (Trento, 1983) presents his first solo exhibition in Germany, 'STONE OF MADNESS', curated by Nadim Samman at Galerie Mazzoli in Berlin. The show investigates the thin line between madness and social deviance in contemporary politics, society, and human ambitions. Fogarolli's photographs and sculptures draw inspiration from a late medieval and Renaissance Northern European belief that a small stone formed in the brain caused mental imbalances, which was removed through dubious surgical techniques documented in period drawings and accounts. Trepanation practices were common to release evil spirits. Fogarolli states that mental states and soul imbalances remain indecipherable in contemporary society, transforming into something tangible and extirpable. He compares individuals' reactions to life as stones reacting to light—natural properties whose goodness is determined by humans who choose to dominate nature rather than live with it. The works visualize inner illness, incorporating found objects like medical instruments, archival photographs, and stones with 'miraculous' properties.