Matilde Sambo's 'Sottile Instabilità' at AnonimaKunsthalle in Varese

AnonimaKunsthalle (AK), founded in 2016 in an ex-kitchen and since 2020 occupying a former wardrobe in Varese, is a collective, intimate, and invasive exhibition space founded by Ermanno Cristini and Luca Scarbelli to showcase artists under 30 creating site-specific works in a tight space. The artistic program for 2020/2021, directed by Clara Scola, is titled 'Sfida e metamorfosi' (Challenge and Metamorphosis). Despite the pandemic preventing the installation of works by six selected artists in 2020, the program was maintained. After shows by Gaia De Megni and Federica Col, no works were hosted until the reopening. The new season opens with 'Sottile Instabilità' by Matilde Sambo (b. 1993), on view until July 4, 2021. The Venetian artist engages the nature-culture dialogue, using imitation to generate environmental force. Acacia thorns pierce AK's wall, resembling ambivalent weapons that both puncture and protect. Soy paper sheets, molded by the artist, climb like ivy, nearly conquering the white triangle space, creating a sensation of suffocation yet protection. The work blurs the line between risk and pain, prompting reconsideration of one's body in space, evoking a state of alert similar to nature's daily struggle.