28 August 2019 Situated in Basilicata, Italy, Castello di San Basilio was built as a fortified farm by the monastic community of the Basilians in the 7th century. It later became a Norman fiefdom and as a consequence took on the physical resemblance of a castle with the construction of the central tower. It is currently owned by the Berlingieri-Leopardi family who are making their own contribution to this historic place, using it, since the late 60s as a foundation to house their collection of contemporary art works.
On the occasion of Matera, European Capital of Culture, the Berlingieri-Leopardi family will transform the property into a project space dedicated to artistic experimentation and collaboration, inviting artists and cura- tors to work together on the development of new artistic discourses.
Oren Pinhassi’s sculptures and installations collapse traditional categories of architecture, nature and body. His work conjures public and private spaces associated with the body, socialising, and in particular gay cruising spots. Pinhassi’s primary material is a pigmented plaster/sand composite, which he uses to painstakingly build up his objects methodically.
Yet whilst they are familiar, recalling modernism in their uniformity and semblance of concrete, Pinhassi’s queered environments propose an altogether more fluid space - one in which rigid delineations no longer exist.
