Gil Pellaton's 'Galop gallop galopp' at Abbatiale Bellelay

Swiss artist Gil Pellaton's exhibition 'Galop gallop galopp' at the Abbatiale Bellelay in Saicourt, Switzerland, transforms the abbey church's linear architecture into a lateral experience. The show, curated by Sylvain Menétrey, occupies the church's left side, shifting visitors' perception from the central axis to a crosswise path. Pellaton's handmade works, created with friends, contrast with industrial manufacturing and reference Alexander Kluge and Oskar Negt's 1981 book 'Geschichte und Eigensinn' (History and Obstinacy), which opposes capitalism's appropriation with human resistance. The exhibition comprises three installations, or 'cantos,' that move from reality into fiction, featuring found and hybridized objects. A recurring butterfly motif, inspired by a chance appearance two years ago, led to the fictional character Bo Butterfly. The works include cupboards made from lute wood, large paintings, and collections of unrelated objects like horse-race trophies, a photo of HC Berne hockey player Samuel Kreis, baby blankets, and a rice cooker. A video shows a procession of cups. Pellaton's art acts as a gathering of things selected by emotion, losing practical meaning to become a language of punctuation or musical notes. The exhibition's rhythm mirrors its title—stuttering, repetitive, and meditative—drawing parallels to psychedelic music, African percussion, and Gertrude Stein's poetry.