The starting point for Bea Bona\ufb01ni\u2019s exhibition of new paintings, drawings and tapestries was the labyrinth \u2013 the \u201cwinding\u201d path that allows the viewers\u2019 eyes to travel between the paintings with \u201cno direct centre.\u201d Inspired by Hermann Kern\u2019s 1981 book on the subject, she researched this archetype, which goes back over 5000 years and is now the central theme of her artworks.<\/p>\n
Opening her \ufb01rst solo exhibition \u2018A Monstrous Fruit\u2019 at SETAREH Gallery in Berlin, the London-based, Italian artist spoke to SLEEK about the meaning behind the exhibition title, the idea of \u201cgrotesque\u201d and why we should all learn Kung Fu.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":96344,"id":96344,"title":"Bonafini, Bea_Alluvial_2022_Bamboo Silk. Handtufted_195 x 153 cm_BONA_O_9","filename":"Bonafini-Bea_Alluvial_2022_Bamboo-Silk.-Handtufted_195-x-153-cm_BONA_O_9.jpg","filesize":555919,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Alluvial_2022_Bamboo-Silk.-Handtufted_195-x-153-cm_BONA_O_9.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/bea-bonafini-a-monstrous-fruit\/bonafini-bea_alluvial_2022_bamboo-silk-handtufted_195-x-153-cm_bona_o_9\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"bonafini-bea_alluvial_2022_bamboo-silk-handtufted_195-x-153-cm_bona_o_9","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":96340,"date":"2022-02-16 15:15:32","modified":"2022-02-16 15:15:32","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1358,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Alluvial_2022_Bamboo-Silk.-Handtufted_195-x-153-cm_BONA_O_9.jpg","thumbnail-width":68,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Alluvial_2022_Bamboo-Silk.-Handtufted_195-x-153-cm_BONA_O_9.jpg","medium-width":1358,"medium-height":1920,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Alluvial_2022_Bamboo-Silk.-Handtufted_195-x-153-cm_BONA_O_9.jpg","medium_large-width":1358,"medium_large-height":1920,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Alluvial_2022_Bamboo-Silk.-Handtufted_195-x-153-cm_BONA_O_9.jpg","large-width":1358,"large-height":1920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Alluvial_2022_Bamboo-Silk.-Handtufted_195-x-153-cm_BONA_O_9-1086x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1086,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Alluvial_2022_Bamboo-Silk.-Handtufted_195-x-153-cm_BONA_O_9.jpg","2048x2048-width":1358,"2048x2048-height":1920,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Alluvial_2022_Bamboo-Silk.-Handtufted_195-x-153-cm_BONA_O_9.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":8,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Alluvial_2022_Bamboo-Silk.-Handtufted_195-x-153-cm_BONA_O_9.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":1358,"wpvr_mobile-height":1920}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":"Bea Bonafini, 'Alluvial,' 2022, Bamboo Silk. Handtufted 195 x 153 cm. Image Courtesy of the artist and SETAREH Berlin, D\u00fcsseldorf, Photo: Trevor Good."}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
SLEEK: <\/strong>The title \u201cA Monstrous Fruit\u201d suggests a kind of \u201cdigestion\u201d in your work. A digestion driven by the body or by time. But at the same time, the labyrinth acts as a limbo, a moment of stasis and reflection to find one\u2019s way out. How do you think these two elements are combined in the exhibition?<\/p>\n Bea Bonafini: <\/strong>As you go through labyrinths, it\u2019s almost like food going through an intestine, right? The structure of the labyrinth shows the maximum amount of movement taken to reach a central point within a given space.\u00a0 <\/span>You don\u2019t take a direct path, you take a winding path, like a pendulum. The movement itself is something that interested me as a way to choreograph the space within a painting or between works.<\/p>\n The eye traverses a winding path, looking for a potential centre of gravity. In that sense, if you\u2019re talking about digestion, there\u2019s no direct path from your mouth to the anus. It makes maximum use of space within the body. That\u2019s why the intestine is so in\ufb01nitely long if it were straightened out \u2013 similarly to the labyrinth. In that sense, there\u2019s a really inef\ufb01cient use of energy in order to reach the centre.<\/p>\n S: Could you tell us more about the title of the show?<\/p>\n BB: I took it from a line of Euripides when he talks about the Minotaur as a hybrid creature. He refers to it as a \u201cmonstrous fruit\u201d. That made me think of the world of the \u201cgrotesque\u201d in art and archaeology, where the ugly and the subconscious infiltrated the walls of palaces, which is something that\u2019s been important for my work. There\u2019s also a dichotomy between the monstrous being something revolting that we reject, as happens to a rotting fruit, or the body of a loved one who passes away, and a fruit being something succulent and sensual that nourishes us. Then I was thinking of the remains of a body or a fruit, there are references to skeletons, backbones or internal parts that are scattered across the show.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":96347,"id":96347,"title":"Bonafini, Bea_The World's Night_2022_Gouache and watercolour on engraved cork_144 x 125 cm_BONA_O_12","filename":"Bonafini-Bea_The-Worlds-Night_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_BONA_O_12.jpg","filesize":294658,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_The-Worlds-Night_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_BONA_O_12.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/bea-bonafini-a-monstrous-fruit\/bonafini-bea_the-worlds-night_2022_gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_bona_o_12\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"bonafini-bea_the-worlds-night_2022_gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_bona_o_12","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":96340,"date":"2022-02-16 15:15:47","modified":"2022-02-16 15:15:47","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1358,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_The-Worlds-Night_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_BONA_O_12.jpg","thumbnail-width":68,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_The-Worlds-Night_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_BONA_O_12.jpg","medium-width":1358,"medium-height":1920,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_The-Worlds-Night_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_BONA_O_12.jpg","medium_large-width":1358,"medium_large-height":1920,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_The-Worlds-Night_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_BONA_O_12.jpg","large-width":1358,"large-height":1920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_The-Worlds-Night_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_BONA_O_12-1086x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1086,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_The-Worlds-Night_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_BONA_O_12.jpg","2048x2048-width":1358,"2048x2048-height":1920,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_The-Worlds-Night_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_BONA_O_12.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":8,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_The-Worlds-Night_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_144-x-125-cm_BONA_O_12.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":1358,"wpvr_mobile-height":1920}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":"Bea Bonafini, 'The World's Night,' 2022, Gouache and Watercolour on Engraved Cork. 144 x 125 cm. Image Courtesy of the artist and SETAREH Berlin, D\u00fcsseldorf, Photo: Trevor Good."}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":" S: <\/span>In the paintings, the labyrinth is extracted from its architectural context and defined in the anthropomorphic forms of the body. Particularly in “In Earth’s Bowels,” you perceive a stomach (which many call the second brain) where emotions get stuck and influence our path. Did you want to refer to psychosomatic pains? BB: That\u2019s very interesting! I became fascinated with the Vagus Ner<\/i><\/span>v<\/i><\/span>e<\/i><\/span>.\u00a0 <\/span>This nerve travels across the body starting from the brain, moving over the stomach and reaching the groin. It\u2019s what causes the \u2018butterfly\u2019 feeling in your stomach when you\u2019re excited and nervous. It\u2019s the emotional nerve of our body, it\u2019s almost like a labyrinth unravelling. I was thinking a lot about physical and mental con\ufb01nement or feeling trapped. Maybe the labyrinth\u2019s walls are getting narrower and you\u2019ve lost sight of the exit. I was imagining the physical inability to do something or the powerlessness to move freely. In the case of The World\u2018s Night<\/i> for example, there\u2019s a body whose arms are crossed over and wrap around the torso, but it\u2019s a blissful con\ufb01nement.<\/p>\n S: <\/span>I took a course last year in UdK on grief and we addressed the subject of the Vagus Nerve, which we can control or somehow regulate through breathing. Do you do any breathing practices?<\/p>\n BB: I started practising Kung Fu just as I began producing this exhibition, and breath control are crucial. For example, if we exhale we can exert greater force, and we gather energy whilst inhaling.<\/p>\n S: Would you recommend Kung Fu then?<\/p>\n BB: Totally! The amazing thing with Kung Fu is that you learn from animal behaviours. There\u2019s a sense of deep embodiment of the non-human in order to understand and balance opposing forces. The soft with the hard, \ufb02exibility and rigidity, strength and suppleness, all these dual elements. The breath going through the body is connected to the Chi. Chi is our life force. If you manage to circulate it properly around the body and harness its energy, it can be a superpower! It opened a world to me. It activates the warrior that we all have inside.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":96346,"id":96346,"title":"Bonafini, Bea_Eternal Incandescent_2022_Gouache and watercolour on engraved cork_126 x 111 cm_BONA_O_14","filename":"Bonafini-Bea_Eternal-Incandescent_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_BONA_O_14.jpg","filesize":448242,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Eternal-Incandescent_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_BONA_O_14.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/bea-bonafini-a-monstrous-fruit\/bonafini-bea_eternal-incandescent_2022_gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_bona_o_14\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"bonafini-bea_eternal-incandescent_2022_gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_bona_o_14","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":96340,"date":"2022-02-16 15:15:42","modified":"2022-02-16 15:15:42","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1358,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Eternal-Incandescent_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_BONA_O_14.jpg","thumbnail-width":68,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Eternal-Incandescent_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_BONA_O_14.jpg","medium-width":1358,"medium-height":1920,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Eternal-Incandescent_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_BONA_O_14.jpg","medium_large-width":1358,"medium_large-height":1920,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Eternal-Incandescent_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_BONA_O_14.jpg","large-width":1358,"large-height":1920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Eternal-Incandescent_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_BONA_O_14-1086x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1086,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Eternal-Incandescent_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_BONA_O_14.jpg","2048x2048-width":1358,"2048x2048-height":1920,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Eternal-Incandescent_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_BONA_O_14.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":8,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Eternal-Incandescent_2022_Gouache-and-watercolour-on-engraved-cork_126-x-111-cm_BONA_O_14.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":1358,"wpvr_mobile-height":1920}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":"Bea Bonafini, 'Eternal Incandescent,' 2022, Gouache and Watercolour on Engraved Cork. 126 x 111 cm. Image Courtesy of the artist and SETAREH Berlin, D\u00fcsseldorf, Photo: Trevor Good."}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":" S: Reading the text of the exhibition I found it very interesting to wonder if the Minotaur ever knew touch. A sense that is explored in your work \u201cEternal Incandescent\u201d, where the figure is defined by a labyrinth of hands, each hand revealing a part of the body through its touch. And the painting is divided into two parts. A dualism is present in almost all the works on display. Is it a question of two bodies in communication or of the body in communication with itself? BB: I see it as both. It\u2019s almost like sub-personalities in conversation. But the conversation is fragmented, I try to break the dualism apart through a repetitive fragmentation of the image. I like thinking that there are many others within a single entity. There\u2019s also a sense of reaching out to something external. In \u201cEternal Incandescent\u201d there are these hands that are crawling onto the face, like an octopus or a \ufb02uid, malleable creature that wants to protect, with so much tenderness. Its protection becomes \ufb01re-like. It’s ambivalent, the expression on the \u2018egg\u2019 face is so relaxed and blissful. There\u2019s a sense of utter love, so much love that it multiplies inside you.<\/p>\n S: In your works, the void between the figures appears as a physical distance between elements of the same work (\u2018Plinian Fire\u2019 and \u2018Alluvial\u2019) or in full, deep colours compared to the transparencies of the body. Especially in ‘Magma Melt’, the space between the figures becomes an image in itself. A proxemic distance between two communicating bodies. When composing the image, do you start by first defining the figure and then the space that surrounds it, or does it appear organically? BB: I like to think that figure and void work in symbiosis. There\u2019s a push and pull dynamic I play with while constructing a piece, and empty spaces almost have a visceral presence. Emptiness, gaping holes, rifts…they\u2019re a bit like ghosts. Their ‘nothingness’ can become really present and can also have a sculptural role.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":96964,"id":96964,"title":"Bonafini, Bea_Magma Melt_2021_pastel on sennelier card_65 x 55 x 3 cm_BONA_P_9","filename":"Bonafini-Bea_Magma-Melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_BONA_P_9.jpeg","filesize":43623,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Magma-Melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_BONA_P_9.jpeg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/bea-bonafini-a-monstrous-fruit\/bonafini-bea_magma-melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_bona_p_9\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"bonafini-bea_magma-melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_bona_p_9","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":96340,"date":"2022-03-04 07:37:47","modified":"2022-03-04 07:37:47","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":453,"height":640,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Magma-Melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_BONA_P_9.jpeg","thumbnail-width":68,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Magma-Melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_BONA_P_9.jpeg","medium-width":453,"medium-height":640,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Magma-Melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_BONA_P_9.jpeg","medium_large-width":453,"medium_large-height":640,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Magma-Melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_BONA_P_9.jpeg","large-width":453,"large-height":640,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Magma-Melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_BONA_P_9.jpeg","1536x1536-width":453,"1536x1536-height":640,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Magma-Melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_BONA_P_9.jpeg","2048x2048-width":453,"2048x2048-height":640,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Magma-Melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_BONA_P_9.jpeg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":8,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bonafini-Bea_Magma-Melt_2021_pastel-on-sennelier-card_65-x-55-x-3-cm_BONA_P_9.jpeg","wpvr_mobile-width":453,"wpvr_mobile-height":640}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":"Bea Bonafini, \u2018Magma Melt\u2019, 2021, Paste on Sennelier Card. 65 x 55 x 3 cm. Image Courtesy of the artist and SETAREH Berlin, D\u00fcsseldorf, Photo: Trevor Good."}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":" S: Again in \u201cMagma Melt” at first glance I thought I saw an X-ray of the Brancusi\u2019s Kiss sculpture. Was this intentional?\u00a0 <\/span> BB: [Laughs] no way! I didn’t think about it. No, but I actually love thinking of things as an x-ray or cross-section of something – seeing through the seemingly impenetrable.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
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