CREMONA.- Paola Pivi presents an Agusta 109 helicopter, flipped upside down and placed on the floor of the central nave of the church San Carlo. This positioning transforms an object known for its functionality and association with movement into an unexpected and disorienting presence. The inversion emphasizes the tension between the helicopter’s tangible materiality and its symbolic connection to flight, challenging visitors to reconsider their perceptions and interactions with familiar objects, which in this context take on a new and surprising dimension.
The inverted helicopter exhibited at San Carlo recalls other interventions by Paola Pivi in which recognizable vehicles and objects are transformed in unexpected ways. Her previous works include “Camion” (1997), a sculpture consisting of a lorry flipped onto its side; “Untitled (airplane)” (1999), a fighter jet turned upside down and presented at the Venice Biennale; and the inverted helicopter Westland Wessex shown in 2006 during the Kontracom06 festival in Salzburg. Additionally, in “How I Roll” (2012), a Piper Seneca plane had been specially modified enabling it to rotate through 360 degrees while held aloft on its wing tips in a Public Art Fund installation in New York City. These works explore displacement and subversion, blending irony with technical complexity. In this new installation, the monumental presence of the helicopter invites visitors to engage in a fresh reflection on familiar objects, sparking wonder and curiosity.
The architecture of the church of San Carlo, steeped in history, amplifies the potential of this image and the interplay between the real and imaginary, an essential element of Paola Pivi’s work. The helicopter, flipped upside down and resting on the floor, appears as a real object that, through its inversion, takes on a quasi-fictional character, evoking a contrast between the ordinary and the extravagant. The dialogue between the object and the space transforms the nave into a place of exploration, where visitors can engage both visually and physically, experiencing an immersive encounter that challenges visual conventions and invites them to observe what they thought they knew from new perspectives.
Born in Italy in 1971, Paola Pivi is known for her ability to transform recognizable objects into extraordinary experiences. Her artistic practice spans installations, sculptures, and performances, exploring the boundaries between reality and imagination, ordinary and extraordinary.
Paola Pivi has received numerous awards, including the Golden Lion for best national pavillion at the 48th Venice Biennale and fellowship at the American Academy in Rome in 2011. Her works are part of prestigious permanent collections, including those of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and the Castello di Rivoli in Turin, and MAXXI - the National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome. She has exhibited in prominent museums and galleries, including P.S.1 MoMA, New York (2000, 2001, 2003, 2007); MCA - Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2005); Kunsthalle Basel, Basel (2007); Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2008); Tate Modern, London (2009); The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (2018); and the High Line, New York (2022).
