Opening: Saturday, June 28, 2025, at 18:00 am, Via Castello 3, Brunate (CO)
It is recommended to reach Brunate by funicular from Como, which takes you directly to the town. Alternatively, some parking spaces are available.
ㅤ
Discover the map here
ㅤ
Click here to download the invitation and press kit.
ㅤㅤㅤ
The so-called “castle,” an ancient dwelling in the historic center of Brunate, hosts the intervention by Japanese-born artist Aiko Shimotsuma. Through three works, the artist conveys the impressions gathered while visiting the village—sensations sparked and inspired by the atmospheric phenomena that surrounded her during her stay.
Her fascination with the inventions of Alessandro Volta, particularly with luminous phenomena, intertwines with her wonder at the dense sea of fog that occasionally envelops the lake. This inspiration takes shape in Feeling is all, a tactile wall that, when touched, emits a light veil of smoke.
The colors of the sunset are transformed into glowing shades in a series of glass works titled Matter is Void that evoke the gradients of the sky, while Horseshoe reproduces a horseshoe found on the door of the building’s old well: an object meant to be touched, inviting fortune to draw near.
ㅤ
Artworks
01. Aiko Shimotsuma, Feeling is all, 2025, interactive and site-specific installation, water, glycerin, Arduino (programming software), smoke machine, fabric, wood, 260 x 400 cmThe work can be touched. The smoke emerges when the visitor comes into contact with the fabric.
ㅤ
02. Aiko Shimotsuma, Matter is void, 2025, series of 3, glass, gas, transformer, variable dimensions.
ㅤ
03. Aiko Shimotsuma, Horseshoe, 2025, interactive installation, glass, plasma gas, transformer, variable dimensions.The work can be touched. Electrical charges react to contact with the glass.
ㅤ
Via Castello 3, Brunate (CO)ㅤ
Brunate (CO)
28.06.2025
Via Castello 3
16:00
WANDERING THROUGH THE FOG OF BRUNATE, I BEGAN TO SENSE HOW THE UNSEEN REVEALS ITSELF THROUGH TOUCH AND TENSION. THIS PROJECT EMERGED FROM THAT MOMENT, WHERE PERCEPTION BLURS, AND THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN PRESENCE AND IMAGINATION SOFTENS.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
Aiko Shimotsuma (Japan, 1987) lives and works in Berlin. She holds a degree in Sociology from Japan and studied Sculpture at the Weißensee Academy of Art in Berlin, where she graduated as a Meisterschülerin in 2021. She received a scholarship from the Elsa-Neumann-Stipendium in Berlin for 2022 and 2023. In 2021, she was awarded a grant by the Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation in Japan, and in 2020, she received a scholarship from the Bernhard Heiliger Foundation in Berlin, which led to the creation of the site-specific installation Horizon I, presented at Kunsthaus Dahlem, Berlin. Active both in Germany and internationally, in 2024 she held a solo exhibition at Panorama in Venice following an artist residency, and is scheduled to participate in several group exhibitions in various countries, including Japan.
Perched on the hills above Como, Brunate is a charming village known as the “Balcony over the Alps” for its breathtaking views of the lake and surrounding peaks.Its origins date back to Roman times, but it was between the 19th and 20th centuries, with the construction of the funicular railway in 1894, that Brunate became a renowned tourist destination—an identity it still proudly maintains. The funicular remains the main means of reaching Como, although the more adventurous can take the scenic hiking trails that connect the village to different points in the city. Among these is the path dedicated to the Milanese poet Alda Merini, marked by signs quoting poets from various periods, commemorating the time she spent in Brunate. The village is also the starting point for striking hiking routes, such as the Strada Regia, which leads to Torno, and the Sentiero Italia, which follows the ridge of the Triangolo Lariano all the way to Bellagio.
Brunate retains a captivating Art Nouveau architectural heritage, with elegant villas built between the late 19th and early 20th centuries—remnants of its past as a holiday retreat for the Lombard upper class.Among the main attractions are the Church of Sant’Andrea; the Campari Fountain, built around 1935 by the famous beverage company as an advertising feature—now one of only three remaining in Italy; the Volta Lighthouse, dedicated to the scientist Alessandro Volta, a prominent citizen of Como who spent the first months of his life in a foster home in Brunate; and Italy’s smallest sanctuary, dedicated to Saint Rita of Cascia.
Edoardo De Cobelli (Bergamo, Italy, 1992) is a curator and researcher at the University of Milano Bicocca - PhD in Intangible Heritage in Socio-Cultural Innovation and artistic director of Spazio Volta, a cultural center in Bergamo. He was part of the curatorial team of the Rome Quadriennale 2020-2024 and the San Fedele Award. His curatorial practice is part of a broader cultural project that promotes the artistic scene through urban regeneration and community engagement, with a particular focus on sites of historical and cultural interest and on the concept of heritage communities.
For Una Boccata d’Arte he has curated the Lombardia projects of Jacopo Benassi in Gardone Riviera (2023) and Sofia Silva in Palazzo Pignano (2024).