A Plus A Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Slow Manifesto, an exhibition curated by the 2025 fellows of the School for Curatorial Studies Venice. The group show will be held in conjunction with the 19. International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, in the spaces of A Plus A Gallery.

Slow Manifesto —running from Wednesday, May 28 to Monday, July 15, 2025– explores in depth the theme of desire, poised between manipulation and authenticity, through the approach of several international artists.

On this occasion, works by Riccardo Benassi, Thomas Braida, Nina Ćeranić, Numero Cromatico, Petra Cortright, Sylvie Fleury, Esther Gamsu, Lauren Lee McCarthy, Rafaël  will be presented, illustrating the fellows’ research into the dynamics that condition human desire.

In contemporary times, manipulation of desire is indeed exercised through constant social pressures, which turns it into a mechanism fueling consumistic dynamics.

This leads to a crisis of subjectivity: the individual becomes trapped in a circuit that compels him to reproduce sterile market logics such as desiring on command, overwhelmed by external inputs. Desire ceases to be authentic and becomes suggested, packaged, administered. However, the system is not infallible, and the exhibition therefore investigates the faculty of questioning the very meaning of desire and explores how it might be freed from external constructs.

Through video art, painting, magazines, and installations, some of the artists presented explore the notions of waiting and possibility, rather than immediate gratification. Others, by contrast, expose the language of advertising, politics, and technology, fragmenting their codes and revealing their contradictions.

In a world saturated with stimuli, the exhibition invites visitors to slow down and reflect as a revolutionary act, freeing themselves from external conditioning and reclaiming the right to cultivate an authentic desire.

The exhibition unfolds across two levels, following a thematic progression. On the lower floor of the gallery, the focus is on the experience of a mind stimulated by external elements. The environment recreates the sensation of a waiting room overloaded with advertising. Images, slogans, and sounds amplify the tension between authentic and induced desire.

On the upper floor, the selected works suggest a minimal and meditative atmosphere. It is an invitation to become aware of a different, less chaotic reality—one that can be reached only by physically and mentally distancing oneself from the source of disturbance.

On the lower floor, an idealized interpretation of what waiting represents today has been created, aimed at the overstimulation of the senses. This is achieved through modular seating, objects, and the aseptic lighting characteristic of non-places.

From the psychosis of the lower floor, the concept evolves in a way that is both contrasting and coherent: the continuous flow of information, inputs, and noise that characterizes the first part of the exhibition gives way to a silent environment in the second part, allowing visitors to reflect critically within a neutral space, making room for questioning and self-analysis.

 THE COLLATERAL ACTIVITIES:

Educational activities for primary school students and secondary will be held during the course of the whole exhibition.

curated by School for Curatorial Studies Venice

from May 28 to July 15, 2025 

From Wednesday to Saturday, 11 am – 6 pm