Putiferio

Internationally renowned Italian artist Roberto Cuoghi will be carrying out a major exhibition on the island of Hydra. Cuoghi was commissioned by the DESTE Foundation in the context of an exhibition program specially designed for the Foundation’s Project Space in the island’s former Slaughterhouse.

Cuoghi’s exhibition is entitled “Putiferio”, in Latin “to bring the stink”. “Putiferio” may also signify chaos or a small taste of hell. During the opening, the artist will transform the area around the Slaughterhouse into a camp to experiment archaic firing techniques for ceramic.

Cuoghi’s work is based on the properties and characteristics of materials both as natural entities and mental structures. Harnessing materials as diverse as wood, newspapers, raw clay and liters of invented mashes made of proteins and yeast, the artist challenges the potential of familiar materials and items to be reconfigured into chaotic assemblages that are both aesthetically and symbolically disturbing.