Pier Paolo Koss's Retrospective 'Border_No_Border' at Guidi&Schoen in Genoa

The Guidi&Schoen gallery in Genoa is hosting 'Border_No_Border 1992/2022', a retrospective curated by Paola Valenti featuring the work of Italian artist Pier Paolo Koss (born 1959 in Valledoria). The exhibition spans thirty years of Koss's practice, from 1990—just after the fall of the Berlin Wall—to the present. Koss's work delves into Russian socio-political dynamics, employing readymades, assemblages, installations, and everyday objects to critique issues like economic disparity, rights violations, and militarism. Notable works include 'Boots on the border' (1992), 'Armia Putina' (a pyramid of toy soldiers aiming rifles at a frontier), and 'Gulagu.net' (dolls with perforated naples symbolizing suppression of speech). The exhibition also features 'Putin-Land' (2012), a digital photo of a map of the Russian Federation covered in military insignia, created after Putin's third term victory. Koss describes his focus on borders as both physical and conceptual, questioning how to expand civil society and demilitarize minds. The show runs at Guidi&Schoen in Genoa, Italy.