The exhibition builds on a significant selection of drawings by Pierre Klossowski (1905 - 2001), the brother of painter Balthus and a leading figure in 1960s thought. An intellectual, novelist and translator, in the 1950s he began illustrating his novels. His illustrations, first done in grey lead and then in coloured pencils, not only capture scenes already present in his literary works but also delve into what has been one of the central themes of his production: eroticism. Klossowski's graphic work is underpinned by a "wicked philosophy" that is centred around all-consuming and unrelenting sexual impulses. His characters are dominated by an abnormal and irreverent attitude to reason, wherein their thoughts unabashedly reach beyond the trappings of convention.

The exhibition shows the largest selection of Klossowski's works ever presented in Italy, 48 large-format drawings, establishing a dialogue with the production of three other artists: Carol Rama, Hans Bellmer and Pierre Molinier. Deeply influenced by Surrealism and frequenters of the same circles, they explore the relationship between art and eros with entirely different outcomes. Klossowski's entire production, while bold and provocative, remains controlled, intellectual, as if harnessed in a tension that never seems to resolve itself. On the contrary, Rama, Molinier and Bellmer explore their own passionate worlds in a visceral, psychological, instinctive, irrational, even deprecating way.

The project is complemented by valuable video content including the screening of some scenes from Roberte ce soir, a 1979 feature film starring the artist himself and his wife Denise Marie Roberte Morin-Sinclaire.

Recommended for adult audiences.

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