ESPACE MURAILLE, GENÈVE

present "Independence"

From Wednesday 29 January to Saturday 9 May 2020
Simultaneous opening at artgenève 2020

Espace Muraille, a unique exhibition space dedicated to contemporary art, was born from the desire of a couple of collectors and patrons, Caroline and Eric Freymond, to share their passion for contemporary art and for artists with as many people as possible. A place steeped in history, located in the heart of Geneva's old town, the space has been entirely redesigned and shaped by its artistic director Caroline Freymond to host ambitious exhibitions, including solo shows dedicated to international artists. After the major exhibitions devoted to the French artist Monique Frydman (2015), the Argentinean Tomàs Saraceno (2015), the Iranian Shirazeh Houshiary (2016), the American Sheila Hicks (2016), the British Edmund de Waal (2017) and the Icelandic-Danish Olafur Eliasson (2018), Espace Muraille gave carte blanche in 2019 to the Israeli Michal Rovner for his first exhibition in Switzerland. From 29 January 2020, Espace Muraille invites the Israeli artist Arik Levy (born in Tel Aviv in 1963, lives and works in France), thus continuing to position itself as one of the leading creative centres in Switzerland. The exhibition is conceived by Arik Levy in dialogue with the place and expresses the concept of dependence and independence in multiple ways.

"As I worked on these materials and discovered the space during my visits, I focused on the notion towards which many of my ideas converge, like a beam radiating from a concentrated source. The space evoked several ideas to me: the old city walls that provided protection, but also represent an impassable framework; and the fact that the exhibition space is both above and below ground level, like a reverse side and a place. I also wanted to change the dimensions of the space by questioning the relationships of scale and proportion of the works, as well as the physical perception, its position and orientation, in order to provoke a frontal encounter with ourselves, body and mind. »
Arik Levy

BIOGRAPHY 
A self-taught and multidisciplinary artist, after his first participation in a group exhibition in Tel Aviv in 1986, Arik Levy moved to Europe where he founded his art and design studio in Paris in 1992. Inspired by primitive forms and materials, which he perceives both emotionally and scientifically, Arik Levy feels that "the world is about people, not objects" and expresses that "life is a system of signs and symbols ... where nothing is quite what it seems to be. "Arik Levy's work has been exhibited in some of the world's most prestigious galleries and museums, and has been permanently installed in many public spaces around the world. He is currently working on the official commission for a monumental sculpture that will be erected in 2020 on the forecourt of the future Hermitage Modern Contemporary Museum (HMCM) in Moscow.