The exhibition Inside Voices unites works by Dino Chatila and Mathieu Zurstrassen in a poetic dialogue between two artists—partly silent, partly physically voiced.
The scenography of the show immerses the viewer in an emotional journey of encountering hidden voices and encoded messages, engaging with the rich and multilayered spaces of Dino Chatila’s canvases and the enigmatic stainless-steel sculptures by Mathieu Zurstrassen.
Dino Chatila presents a series of new works created with mixed media on canvas and linen. The artist uses a balanced and refined color palette that imparts harmony and tranquility to his pieces and evokes a sensation of fragility. The magnetic and mesmerizing effect of his works captures the viewer from the very first moment of contemplation. The rich and complex tonality of Chatila’s works produces visual vibrations that resonate with different voices.
The sculptures from Mathieu Zurstrassen’s Sound Portal series, presented at the exhibition,
display a surprising contrast: a purely technical appearance, emphasized by the use of stainless steel, combined with poetic and emotional content revealed as the viewer approaches and interacts with the enigmatic structures.
The fundamental belief that the world of things is deceptive, and that reality is not always what it seems, finds a literal embodiment in Zurstrassen’s creations. The skills of an architect—focused on functionality and precision—meet the vibrant and imaginative spirit of an artist.
Artworks from the Sound Portal series are built with stainless steel tubings and are inspired by the ventilation systems of buildings. These systems often act as conduits for voices, noises, smells, and other traces of life hidden from view. These sounds are perceived as evidence of events and stimulate the imagination. The voices of Mathieu Zurstrassen’s structures reflect the present moment, the past, memories, and perhaps even dreams. These objects engage the viewer not only visually but acoustically as well.
The sculptures from Mathieu Zurstrassen’s Sound Portal series, presented at the exhibition, display a surprising contrast: a purely technical appearance, emphasized by the use of inox, combined with poetic and emotional content revealed as the viewer approaches and interacts with the enigmatic objects.
The fundamental belief that the world of things is deceptive, and that reality is not always what it seems, finds a literal embodiment in Zurstrassen’s creations. The skills of an architect—focused on functionality and precision—meet the vibrant and imaginative spirit of an artist.
Pieces from the Sound Portal series are built with inox and are inspired by the ventilation systems of buildings. These systems often act as conduits for voices, noises, smells, and other traces of life hidden from view. These sounds are perceived as evidence of events and stimulate the imagination.
The voices of Mathieu Zurstrassen’s objects reflect the present moment, the past, memories, and perhaps even dreams. These objects engage the viewer not only visually but acoustically as well.
Deeply rooted in today’s societal habits, Zurstrassen's work serves as a mirror to contemporary life, questioning our relationship with technology, consumption, and the invisible systems that underpin our daily routines. Whether through a sound that barely brushes the threshold of perception or a machine that humorously reimagines social mechanisms, his art invites viewers to rethink the mundane and uncover layers of meaning in the overlooked.
Highly technical yet profoundly human, Mathieu Zurstrassen creates pieces that are as much about engineering as they are about emotion, using humor and subtle irony to challenge and engage the viewer. His works serve as a bridge between the physical and the intangible, forging connections that linger long after the encounter.
Dino Chatila’s artistic practice employs a diversity of materials, including oil, acrylic, embroidery, pins, tar, varnish, paper, and textile. The composition of materials for each canvas is an intuitive process. There is no clear vision of the final composition, either in terms of imagery or materials.
The creative process of “building” a painting is akin to musical improvisation—an evolving structure filled with a sequence of elements and gestures. Each element has its own voice, but their association on the surface of the work creates a new resonance within the visual ensemble.
The creation of Chatila's pieces balances between composing and deconstructing, adding and removing, revealing the dual poles of any life process. Layers of pictorial matter emerge one after another, overlapping and creating a surface for subsequent mechanical actions—scratching, peeling, and revealing fragments of the underlying painting.
By clearing and deforming the multilayered pictorial space, the artist pushes the boundaries of the invisible, penetrating into the depths of the painting’s layers and exposing the hidden base of the canvas. On canvas or aluminium, he applies and then removes colored matter as though peeling away strips of flesh to reach the primal essence beneath. The word "color" comes from the Latin celare, meaning “to hide, to conceal.” The artist strips away layers that obscure the truth, bringing it to light.
Through this slow, decompositional process, a new image emerges, as if to unmask the successive layers.
The philosophy and spirit of Dino Chatila’s art align with the fundamental role of art itself: to evoke the invisible through visible form, to provoke emotion, and to encourage a new perception of reality.
