Las Mitocondria. Hysteria. De Secretis Naturae

AlbumArte is thrilled to announce the project Hysteria. De Secretis Naturae, featuring works by the Spanish artist duo Las Mitocondria (Alicia Herrero and María Ángeles Vila Tortosa), involving the Real Academia de España en Roma and the National Dance Academy. 
The project will consist of a solo exhibition, curated by Paola Ugolini, two performances on the opening day (Tuesday, June 5th, 2018 at 7.30 pm), another one during the exhibition days (July, 2018) and, lastly, a training workshop on June 4th at the Real Academia de España en Rome. 
Las Mitocondria (Alicia Herrero and María Ángeles Vila Tortosa) carries out a research between Visual Arts and Contemporary Dance, focused mainly on the theme of women, their social role and their part within the family environment .
In this personal exhibition, the duo presents a series of unpublished works specifically realized for the spaces of AlbumArte, which reflect on the theme of hysteria as a stereotype of exclusively female pathology. 
As part of the project, the artists will realize a workshop at the Real Academia de España en Roma with the students of the National Dance Academy on the 4th of June. This will lead them to the making of a performance at AlbumArte during the first weeks of July. 
Hysteria is currently recognized as a neurotic pathology characterized by physical symptoms that have no biological basis. Since the times of ancient Greece, medical examinations would erroneously consider it a distinctive disease of the female, caused by a dysfunction of the uterus. Moreover, in the Middle Ages hysteria was thought to be linked to demonic forces and hysterics were exorcised. The belief that this was a kind of supernatural illness was gradually overcome by the beginning of the 18th century, and a century later the diagnosis of hysteria was based on symptoms that are very similar to those of epilepsy but, still, it was thought to be an exclusively female syndrome. 
It is precisely this link between hysteria and being a woman that the work of the two artists focuses on, addressing the vicious idea that women are inherently incapable of managing their emotions which results in a clear discriminatory and derogative attitude towards femininity in general. 
María Ángeles Vila Tortosa will intervene in the spaces of AlbumArte with a large site-specific installation that will almost completely cover the walls of the first room with a series of engravings on paper, in addition to other works on canvas of different formats, as in an art gallery of the Renaissance. At the center of the room there will be a large wooden box, creating a kind of theatrical atmosphere, wherein Alice Herrero will perform a danceon the opening day. This will be seen by visitors from the outside, spying through several holes placed on the walls of the box itself. For the artist, this giant envelope becomes the conceptual and formal representation of hysteria.
​Another performance by María Ángeles Vila Tortosa will take place in the adjoining room that becomes a sort of second open box and in which the visitor will be part of an immersive action. Numerous light boxes will be placed inside, with depictions of the four elements (air, water, earth, fire). These are represented among the iconographies of the 18th century arch of the village of Rivodutri in Sabina, Lazio, an arch also known as the “alchemical gate”. The elements will also be connected with human organs (heart, liver, brain, intestines, lungs, kidneys) so as to transform them into symbols of an esoteric exploration that aims at the union between body and spirit. The play of volumes created by the artist on the walls of the ‘box-room’ becomes a metaphor that represents both the body and the mind. 
As part of the project, the artists will realize a workshop at the Real Academia de España en Roma with the students of the National Dance Academy on the 4th of June. This will lead them to the making of a performance at AlbumArte during the first weeks of July. 
The exhibition has been realized in collaboration with theReal Academia de España en Roma. The workshop and the final performance will also be realized in collaboration with the Accademia Nazionale di Danza. 
AlbumArte wishes to thank IRI Real Estate | Vendite e Investimenti Immobiliari.
Thanks also to Casale del Giglio for the wine tasting on the opening day.
Las Mitocondria is a Spanish artistic duo formed by Alicia Herrero (Valencia, 1977) and María Ángeles Vila Tortosa (Valencia, 1978), engaged with the disciplines of visual arts and dance. Alicia was trained as a dancer and choreographer in London, while María Ángeles studied Fine Arts and realized her first exhibitions in Italy. Since 2008 they collaborate in performances, dance shows, exhibitions and events. In 2009 they realized the project Midriasis/Cajas Habitadas, a project based on a study of memory and emotions. Las cajas habitadas are large-scale containers of emotions with an aesthetic of industrial transportation. The project combines the performances of Alicia Herrero with María Ángeles Vila Tortosa’s works of collage and engravement. Moreover, the project developed an educational aspect for both adults and children, providing training courses for dance, theater and plastic arts professionals. The project was presented at: Istituto Cervantes, Rome; Museo del Tossal, Valencia; ‘escorxador – Center for Contemporary Culture, Elche (Spain); International Mimo Festival, Sueca (Spain); Mario Praz House Museum, Rome; Ric – Festival of Rieti; Internazionali BNL of Italy, Rome; Museo Carlo Bilotti, Rome; Istituto Cervantes of Sofia (Bulgaria). Midriasis/Cajas Habitadas has received the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, of the Regione Lazio, of the Teatres de la Generalitat Valenciana and of the Spanish Embassy in Rome.

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