Artist, poet, choreographer: Cecchetti has developed a unique practice, difficult to classify, that could be called art of avoidance. Tactical and poetic, aesthetic and materialistic, its system produces specific situations or objects that can exist both inside and outside traditional exhibitions. It is in this double movement of representation and concealment that it is possible to inscribe his staging of invisible choreographies of hidden nudes and sleeping dancers. His work is focused in the construction of specific narratives that are experienced both mentally and physically by the audience. Two works can describe better the world in which Cecchetti plunges his audience. Louvre is the tour guide of the Louvre without the Louvre. The whole collection of the museum is summoned from the domain of the invisible through techniques of rhetoric, story-telling and dance. In Walking Backwards the spectator is accompanied literally to walk backward inside a story and to become the core of the vision. One who walks backwards does not know the nature of the images to come. The world does not come into sight smoothly, but it suddenly appears from nowhere. In the new paradigm in which the viewer plunges his life, the future is on the back and the past in the front. Unknowns are the images that appear, and intimate and full of meaning are those that leave from us, that remain still visible in the horizon. Devised and orchestrated by Alex Cecchetti, Voices of Urgency it is four days of panels of poetry and science hosted by Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris, produced by FIAC and programmed during the international fair of contemporary art in Paris.
Cecchetti has exhibited his work broadly: recently with a double solo show with artist Laure Provoust at Netwerk, Aalst and an incantation at Serpentine Galleries London. An installation of his paintings and watercolours have been shown at Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2019). Solo exhibitions include: At the gate of the music palace at Spike Island, Bristol, UK and Void, Derry, Ireland (2018). Tamam Shud at La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel, France and Centre For Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland; Cetaceans at Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy (2017); The Printing House of Hell at Kunstraum, London, UK (2015); Comrades of fear and wonder at Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), Vilnius, Lithuania (2012). Cecchetti’s performances and incantations have been presented at venues including Serpentine Galleries (2019); Palais de Tokyo, Paris and ThalieLab / Thalie Art Foundation, Bruxelles (2017); Parades, Palais De La Découverte, FIAC, Paris and Playground Festival, M Leuven & STUK, Leuven, Belgium (2016); Serpentine Galleries, London (2015); Serralves Foundation, Porto, (2014); South London Gallery, London, and Fondation d’Entreprise Ricard in Paris (2013); MAXXI museum, Rome (2012).
As a writer, Alex Cecchetti has published two novels: “A society that breathes once a year”, Book Works, London, 2012; and “Tamam Shud”, Stenberg Press, Berlin 2017. Books of poetry include: Marie & William, a performance by Alex Cecchetti, MIDI & Mousse Publishing with Åbäke, 2015; and Manque D’imagination, Les Contemporains, Éditions P, Paris 2016. His texts and poems have appeared in different magazines and books.
( Click on the show title for the link )
Texts/Publications
2017
Tamam Shud, artist novel, Sternberg Press
2016
Manque d’Imagination, Les Contemporains, Editions P, Paris
2015
Marie & William, a performance by Alex Cecchetti, artist book 103 Pages, MIDI Publication. MIDI is an imprint of Mousse Publishing and Åbäke
2014
Cadavere Quotidiano, an anthology, conceived and organized by Paul Becker, Alex Cecchetti and Francesco Pedraglio. A Project X Project. Published by Project X Foundation for Art & Criticism, Edited by Shana Lutker
2013
The Room Was Empty And She Kept Bumping Into Chairs & Wayfaring strangers walk known paths, Situation|Event (SIT|EV) Gasworks, London
2012
A Society That Breath Once A Year, novel, published by Book Works, London
Song Of Solitude, artist book, 15 Silkscreen drawings and one birdcaller, drawings Alex Cecchetti, graphic design Goda Budvytyte
2011
The Game of Passing, catalogue, Jeu de Paume, Paris 2011
The Object from the jar to the chest, Vivre dangereusement… jusqu'au bout, a magazine by Benoît Maire for Le Pavillon, laboratoire de création du Palais de Tokyo, © 2011 Palais de Tokyo / Éditions Cercle d’Art, Paris
2010
Why would a sculpture need to breathe, and When the hunter is resting does the hare stop leaving tracks? Or: by Alex Cecchetti, published in Chapter III (The Authorized Narratives), with texts by Mariana Castillo Deball, Alex Cecchetti, Will Holder, Benoît Maire, Falke Pisano. Edition B42.
THE UNREADy, The Greenland Metaphor, Alex Cecchetti Christian Frosi, Untitled 45, contemporary art magazine, London
Chronology and Dialog, The Mock and other superstitions, London
2009
THE UNREADy, The Restored Symmetry, Alex Cecchetti Alexandre Singh, X-TRA, Contemporary Art Quarterly, summer 2009
Games, Pist Protta 63.1 pèazmaker 2009
Prix/Residences
2023
European Residency Programme, Cove Park, British Council Scotland and Creative Scotland
2021 - 2022
Italian Council 10, Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian
Ministry of Culture for SENTIERO with Biennale Gherdëina ∞, 2022
2019
Premio Amedeo Modigliani, Centro Pecci Prato e Comune di Livorno, Livorno, Italy
2016
La Ferme du Buisson, résidence création, La ferme du Buisson, Noisiel
Cité internationale des Arts, résidence atelier-logement Montmartre, Paris
The Novel As Fantasy, The Book Lovers and CCA Ujazdowski Castle Warsaw
2014
Artist in Residence, Headlands center for the Arts, Sausalito, California
2013
La vie matérielle, curated by Yann Chateigné, candidate for the 15e Prix Fondation d'entreprise Ricard, Paris
Situation / Event, Gasworks, London
2012
Caribic Residency, Love residency, Rome
2011
Caribic Residency, Theory of Rising, Lisbon
2008
22nd Ateliers Internationaux, FRAC des Pays de la Loire, residence program, FRAC Carquefou, France
2006
Le Pavillon 2006-2007, residence program, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
2005
Premio Querini – Stampalia Furla per l’Arte (Prix for the art Furla), Follow my Shadow, Villa delle Rose, Bologna, Italy
2003
Artist in Residence, residence program, SMART Project Space, Amsterdam
Solo Show
2023
Je Suis Un Monstre Marin, Museum of Contemporary Art of Haute-Vienne,Château de Rochechouart, France
2022
Sortilegio, curated by Maria Alicata, ForoF, Roma
2020
Occupie Paradit, with Laure Prouvost, Netwerk, Aalst, Belgium
2018
La Chapelle Aux Cent Mille Yeux , Frac Provence Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA), Marseille (Septembre 2018)
At The Gate Of The Music Palace, Solo Show, Spike Island, Bristol (May 2018)
At The Gate oOf The Music Palace, Solo Show, Void, Derry, Iralnd (August 2018)
2017
Tamam Shud, La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel (Novembre 2017)
Tamam Shud, Centre For Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (Septembre 2017)
Ceataceans, Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (Juin 2017)
2015
The Printing House of Hell, Kunstraum, London
2014
Avant-Première, Nuvolari, Paris
2013
Nature Doesn’t have particularly good ideas, Alex Cecchetti, Shanaynay, Paris
2012
Comrades of Fear and Wonder, Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), Vilnius, Lithuania
Du Classicisme (with Benôit Maire), Cortex Athletico, Bordeaux
2011
The Police Return to the Magic Shop, Alex Cecchetti et Mark Geffriaud, Jue de Paume, Paris, curated by Raimundas Malasauskas.
The Two Magicians, The Kaleidoscope magazine project space, Milan
2010
Alex Cecchetti, La Vitrine, Ecole de Beaux Arts Cergy, Paris
2008
Alex Cecchetti, Zero..., Milan, Italy
A Boisterous Something - Bleu Center by Joseph dalle Nogare, Bolzano, Italy
2007
Upside Down, (with Ange Leccia) curated by Christine Macel, Blank, Paris
2003
King Head of Elk, Analix Forever, Genève, Switzerland
2002
Blind Date, Viafarini, Milano, Italy
Solo Performances
2022
Sentiero, IASPIS, Swedish Arts Grants Committee, Stockholm, Sweden
Love Bar, Triennale Milano, Italy
2020
Love Bar, MAXXI National Museum of Contemporary Art, Roma, Italy
The Astronomic Weather Choir, Transart 20, festival of perfoming arts, Bolzano, Italy
2019
Walking Backwards, General Ecology, Serpentine Galleries, London, UK
Walking Backwards, FOG Festival, Milano Triennale, Milano, Italy
Love Bar, Art Weekend Aarhus, Kunsthal Aarhus, Denmark
2017
Nuovo Mondo, Thalie Lab, Bruxelles (october)
Nuovo Mondo, The National Archeological Museum of Naples, Italy (October)
Soirée Sonore #4, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2017
Louvre, CRT theatre, LaTriennale Milano, Milan
Notte Lusoria, carte blanche, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
Walking Backwards, curated by The Book Lovers, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art and Botanic Garden of the University of Warsaw, Warsaw
2016
Nuovo Mondo, curated by The Book Lovers, Krolikarnia and CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw
Tamam Shud in Schizzolingua, Xing, Raum, Bologna, Italie
Tamam Shud, when everything is so clean, curated by The Book Lovers, CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw
2015
Saturdays Live, Serpentine Galleries, London
Walking Backwards, Fondation Serralves, Porto
Maison De La Poesie, Carte Blanche a Alex Cecchetti : Le Salon Du Mercredi, Fiac / Hors-Les-Murs, Paris
2014
Nuovo Mondo, seminar on poetry, curated by Alex Cecchetti, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
Seven Brothers, 49 Nord 6 Est - FRAC Lorraine, Metz, France
2013
Walking Backwards, in the frame of In Process curated by Mehdi Brit, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, FIAC 2013, Paris
Thingying That Thing With The Thingum, 3 days of performances at Gasworks, London UK
2012
H, choreography for hidden nudes, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome
Seven Brothers, choreography for sleeping dancers, Cycle de performances, Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris
Seven Brothers, choreography for sleeping dancers, Goethe Institut, Rome, organized by Caribic Residency
Love Bar, Teatro Valle Occupato, Caribic Residency, Love residency, Rome
Comrades of Fear and Wonder, The conversation of the Arrows, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Vilnius, organized by CAC Vilnius.
At Night Bad Words Cannot Be Seen, 3 Uses of The Knife, Putinas Memorial Museum, organized by CAC Vilnius
L'Entremet, La vie des Formes, les Abattoirs, Musée - Frac Occitanie Toulouse, 2012
2011
The Two Magicians, Alex Cecchetti - Michaël Phelippeau, Jeu de Paume, Paris
2010
I Giocatori, Alex Cecchetti - Falke Pisano, Walden Affairs, Den Haag, Netherlands
2009
I Giocatori, Alex Cecchetti - Mark Geffriaud, Centre international d’art et du paysage de l’île de Vassivière, France
Group Exhibitions
2022
Persones Persons, Biennale Gherdëina ∞ (8), curated by Lucia Pietroiusti and Filippa Ramos, Dolomites, Italy
Eco Land Art, TAXISPALAIS Kunsthalle Tirol, Curated by Nina Tabassomi, Innsbruck, Austria
2021
Casa Balla. To The Universe And Back Home, MAXXI, the National Art Museum of the 21st century, Roma, Italy
2020
This Event, SEMA Seoul Museum of Art, curated by Junghyun Kim, Haeju Kim, Hyun-Suk Seo, Seoul, South Korea
Dance First Think Later, Dervish Skirts, Le Commun, Bâtiment d’art contemporain (BAC), Geneva, Swiss
Thinking Feelings, A Space of Intimacy. Love Bar, Enter Art Fair, Curated by Irene Campolmi, Copenhagen, Denmark
On the Ground, Luis Adelantado Gallery, Valencia
2019
From the Home to the Museum, from the Museum to the Home. Homages to the Works of the Cerruti Collection. Chapter 2, Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli, Italy
Plant Sex, Serpentine Galleries, London, UK
You Are In My Veins, Art Weekend Aarhus, Kunsthal Aarhus, Denmark
Nuit Du Rossignol, Philharmonie De Paris, Musée De La Musique - Cité De La Musique, Paris
Short Theatre, Love Bar, WeGil and Teatro Pelanda, Roma
Oplà, performing activities, Arte Fiera Bologna, Performance Program, curated by Silvia Fanti, Bologna, Italy
2018
La Nouvelle Adresse, CNAP Centre national des arts plastique, Pantin, France
Volcano Extravaganza 2018 – Total Anastrophes, Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Volcano Extravaganza 2018 – Total Anastrophes, Fiorucci Art Trust, Stromboli, Italy
Le Pont Des Échanges, Nuit Blanche, Pont Alexandre III, Paris, 2018
2017
O! Watt up, de Watteau et du Théâtre, MABA / FNAGP, Maison d'Art Bernard Anthonioz, Nogent-sur-Marne
Hand and Mind, curated by Vanessa Boni, Grand Union, Birmingham, UK
Reims, Scènes d’Europe, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims
2016
Parades, performance festival, Palais De La Découverte, FIAC 2016, Paris (Octobre)
Playground Festival, M Leuven & STUK, Leuven, Belgique
Short Theater, Festival of Performances, Transart Institut Français, Roma, Italy
Terni Festival, Festival of Performances, Transart Institut Français, Terni, Italy
Prato Contemporanea, Festival of Performances, Transart Institut Français, Prato, Italy
2015
The Museum as Performance, Serralves Foundation, Porto
Doings & Knots, Curated by Margit Sade Lehni, Indipendent Curators International (ICI), Tallin Art Hall, Tallin
2014
Oublie-moi ! Le Nouveau Festival, 5th Edition, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Le Mouvement, Performing the City, curated by Gianni Jetzer and Chris Sharp, Biel/Bienne, 2014
Nervous Systems - languages of wonder & denial, Curated by Fatima Hellberg & Bárbara Rodríguez Muñoz, Kunsthal Aarhus, Denmark
Love Among The Artists, curated by Laure Prouvost, Walden Affairs, Den Haag, Netherlands
Short Theater, festival of performances and theatre, Roma
2013
La vie matérielle, curated by Yann Chateigné, 15e Prix Fondation d'Entreprise Ricard, Paris
From script to performance to exhibition to performance to print, Rowing, London
Modern Draperies, curated by Anna Gritz, event at the South London Gallery, London
In Process, curated by Mehdi Brit, FIAC 2013, Paris
2012
Acting Out, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Roma
End Things, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), Portland, U.S.
Lithuanian Art 2012: 18 Exhibitions, Sparrows, curated by Valentinas Klimašauskas, Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), Vilnius, Lithuania
2011
Danser sa Vie, Centre Pompidou, curated by Christine Macel and Emma Lavigne, Paris
Wild Sky, Edith Russ Haus in Oldenburg, Germany
2010
Fiction/Lectures, Performées, Saison #3, Fondation D’Entreprise Ricard, Paris
SI - Sindrome Italiana: la jeune création artistique italienne, MAGASIN Centre National d'Art Contemporain de Grenoble, France
Sensorialités Excentriques, Musée Départemental d’Art Contemporain de Rochechouart, Rochechouart
Les sculptures meurent aussi, curated by Lorenzo Benedetti, La Kunsthalle, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Mulhouse
2009
This place you see has no size at all..., curated by Jennifer Teets, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris
I Giocatori, curated by Chiara Parisi, Centre international d’art et du paysage de l’île de Vassivière, Vassivière
Sauvagerie Domestique, Galerie Edouard-Manet, Gennevillier, Paris
Paper Exhibition, curated by Raimundas Malasauskas, Artists Space, New York
Nocturnes, Museion, Bozen/Bolzano, Italy
Andre du Colombier en Theorie, France Fiction, Paris
The Obstacle is Tautology, curated by Benôit Maire, Tulips & Roses, Vilnius, Lithuania
Clifford Irving Show, curated by Gabriel Lester and Raimundas Malasauskas, Cine 13, Paris
Performance Dans le cadre de l’exposition “À corps & à textes”, curated by Francesco Pedraglio, La Galerie, Centre d'art contemporain de Noisy-le-Sec et Café au Lit, Paris
Chapitre 2 (the repetition), curated by Yoann Gourmel, Château Rentilly, France
Premio Emerging Talents, Prix Talents Emergents Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Centre de Culture Contemporain Strozzina – CCCS, Firenze, Italie
We would like to thank (again) the curators who wish to remain anonymous, Gallery Anne Barrault, Paris, France 2009
2008
Re-Reading The Future, International Triennale of Contemporary Art (ITCA), National Gallery, Prague
22nd Ateliers Internationaux, FRAC des Pays de la Loire, par Yoann Gourmel, FRAC Carquefou, France
Every story happens twice, first as an event and then as representation of the event, FormContent at Zoo Art Fair, London
2007
VERSUS. Les Artistes du Pavillon, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
L'Inde, peut-être, Le Pavillon 2006-2007, Espace Louis Vuitton, Paris
San Francesco’s Trilogy, Isabella Bortolozzi Galerie, Berlin
2006
VideoREPORT ITALIA: 04_05, curated by A. Bruciati, Galleria Comunale d’Arte Contemporanea, Monfalcone (GO); MMSU, Rijeka; (itinerant exhibition))
The Three Cities: Berlin – The Apartment, par Gyonata Bonvicini, Anna-Chatarina Gebbers et Paolo Zani; Berlin
35th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), Rotterdam
How are you Frances Bean? Zero... , Milan
2005
Follow my Shadow, Premio Querini – Stampalia Furla per l’Arte (Prix for the art Furla), Villa delle Rose, Bologna, Italy
e-flux video rental, par J. Aranda, A. Vidokle, The International Foundation Manifesta, Manifesta at Home, Amsterdam (itinerant exhibition)
Attraversamento del ponte di Millau, Isabella Bortolozzi Galerie, Berlin
Beauty So Difficult, Fondazione Stelline, curated by Michele Robecchi, Milano
Doppia Visione, still and moving images, curated by maria Rosa Sossai, Magazzino d’Arte moderna, Roma
U-Move, curated by Ab=ndrea bruciati, Galleria Comunale d’Arte Contemporanea di Monfalcone, Monfalcone, Italy
2004
I Nuovi Mostri. Una storia italiana, curated by Massimiliano Gioni, Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Urban spaces, Milan and Venice
On Air : video in onda dall’Italia / On Air: videos from Italy, curated by Andrea Bruciati, Galleria Comunale d’Arte Contemporanea di Monfalcone, Monfalcone, Italy
2003
Nuit Blanche, L’epreuve de l’etranger, Ecole Nationale Superieur des Beaux-Arts, Paris
Arcadia, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, curated by Hanna Scott, New Plymouth, NZ
21° Torino Film Festival, cinema Pathe’ Lingotto, Torino, Italy
Someone to Watch Over Me, SMART Project Space, Amsterdam
System - Short Videos from the World 2002-2003, BizArt Art Center, Shangai
Ainsi va le Monde, curated by Charlotte Laubard, Espace Paul Ricard, Fondation Ricard, Paris
2002
Prototipi 02, Fondazione Olivetti, curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi and Stefano Chiodi, Roma
Italian Boys, Analix Forever, curated by Stefano Arienti, Genève
Exit, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, curated by Francesco Bonami, Torino
59° Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica, Venezia
To the Lighthouse, GAM, curated by Elena Volpato, Torino
2001
Tirana Biennale 1, curated by Michele Robecchi, Flash Art, Tirana
Sparring Partners, Placentia Arte, Piacenza, Italy
2000
Arts & Saints, C/O Care Of, Milan
Emporio, Viafarini, Milan.
Ausstellung 1.4, Goldankauf, Münich
20 Anni di Neon, Neon, Bologna
Curating
2020
Poetry Saved My Life, initiative in support of women’s rights started during the first lockdown for Covid19. A collection of poems printed on t-shirts. The entirety of the incomes go to 2 associations defending women’s rights in France and Italy: DIre contro la violenza, Italy and La Maison des Femmes 93n Saint Denis, France. With Ariana Reines, Laure Provoust, Alex Cecchetti, Koche fashion brand. In collaboration with Thanks For Nothing (Paris)
2015
Voices of Urgency 2 – program of poetry and science, FIAC Paris/Ecole des Beaux-Arts (upcoming October 22-25 2015)
Natural Beginners, show at Nuvolari, Paris. With artists, performers and dancers: India Carpenter, Alex Cecchetti, Antoine Davenne, Patrizio Di Massimo, Chokyosai Eiri, Keisai Eisen, Tim Etchells, Katsushika Hokusai, Lenio Kaklea, Carlos Motta, Francesco Pedraglio, Heather Phillipson, Laure Prouvost, Giles Round, Yanagawa Shigenobu, Lucy Stein and anonymous from the erotic art collection of Ferdinand Bertholet, one of the most important in the world.
2014
Voices of Urgency – program of poetry and science, FIAC Paris/Ecole des Beaux-Arts. With the poets and researchers: Vinciane Despret (Scientific Philosopher and Éthologist, Belgium), Yuri I. Manin (Mathematician, Russia), Serhiy Zhadan (poet, Urkraine), Ariana Reines (Poet, USA), Peter Semolic (poet, Solvénia), Eileen Myles (poet, USA) and Abdellatif Laâbi (poet, Morocco), Luca Greco (Lecturer at Paris III - Sorbonne Nouvelle), Grzegorz Wróblewski (poet, Poland), Cecilia Vicuña (poet, Chili)
Nuovo Mondo, seminar on poetry, par Alex Cecchetti, Palais de Tokyo, Paris. With artists, performers and dancers: Alex Cecchetti, Antoine Davenne, Clarisse Herrenschmidt, Francesco Pedraglio, Cécilia Bengolea, Heather Phillipson, Catitu Tayassu, Tim Etchells, Joris Lacoste and Laure Prouvost.
2008
Salon du Mercredi, since 2008 and ongoing. Created by Alex Cecchetti and inspired by the literary Italian salons of the eighteenth century, the SALON DU MERCREDI, gather together artists, writers, curators, dancers, philosophers and many others around an issue, a paradigmatic question to discuss, in order to create knowledge.Participants: Alex Cecchetti, Lorenzo Benedetti, Benoît Maire, Raimundas Malasauskas, Simone Menegoi, Darius Miksys, Francesco Pedraglio, Chris Sharp, Alexandre Singh, Caterina Riva, Elodie Royer, Sandra Terdjman, Pieternel Vermoortel, Krõõt Juurak, Kristan Kennedy, Adam Kleinman, Nicolas Matranga, Darius Mikšys, Aaron Schuster, Jennifer Teets, Christian Frosi, Mark Geffriaud, Tarek Atoui, Joris Lacoste, Homero Aridjis, Brian Turner, Dorothea Lasky, Ko Un, Homero Aridjis, Benoit Maire, DD Dorvillier, Karl Larsson, Santiago Reyes, Dunya Mikhail & Clare Pollard, Dena Beard, Ella Belenky, Lydia Brawner, Amy Franceschini, Arthur Gaus, David Kasprazak, Olivia Mole, Floris Schonfield, May Wilson, Sarah Wisby
2003
Curator of Sound Performance, monthly series in wich the boundaries between music and art are explored. SMART Project Space, Amsterdam. Artists invited: BHF, Dj Elephant Power, Kaffe Matthews, Oliver Wittchow, Covox, Lo-Bat, Myfanwy Ashmore, Steffen Basho Junghans