Mariana Hahn: Night Eyes at Vino Vero Venice
The contemporary art project ‘Vetrina’ inaugurated its second cycle of presentations in February 2024. After exploring the broad theme of nature through the site-specific works of the first nine invited artists, the focus has now shifted to the theme of activism, exclusively involving women artists who are enterprising and provocative in different ways and who have always, in their works, provided space for a proactive reflection on the contemporary world.
For VETRINA#13, Vino Vero has invited Mariana Hahn, a multidisciplinary artist who investigates the relationship between the body and the transmission of memory and knowledge. Hahn incorporates materials such as silk, hair, salt, and copper in her research, examining memory as it is stored and transmitted in these media, and investigating their role, definition, and transformation through time and different civilizations.
The site-specific exhibition “Night Eyes” comprises five works, each offering an exploration of materiality and human experience, where time serves as a catalyst for transformation, reshaping both the artwork and its meaning.
The first piece, “Untitled” (2020), features a stainless copper plate intricately shaped to depict the outline of a reclining human figure. This work was conceived to represent the artist’s own body, captured through the imprint of sweat left during her running sessions in Paris. This act of leaving a trace is imbued with significance; as time progresses, the natural oxidation process inherent to copper gradually reveals this imprint more prominently, becoming a mark of both presence and memory. The pose captured is one often witnessed by the artist—a reflection of marginalized individuals sitting still on city streets, heads bowed over their knees, in a posture of submission and vulnerability.
This resonance between form and emotion invites contemplation on how copper mirrors human existence. Just as our bodies undergo various transformations throughout our lives, so too does copper transition from its initial lustrous shine to an intricate patina over time. This transformation highlights not merely aesthetic contrasts but also suggests layers of narrative within the patina—stories etched into its surface that resonate with beauty born from decay.
In addition to this evocative piece, the exhibition presents four more works incorporating salt and copper. These pieces consist of salt remnants crystallized upon copper plates, forming textured surfaces and craters resembling moons slowly falling apart. Inspired by the salt pans the artist encountered on Gozo Island (Malta), this altering process of evaporation and material redefinition introduces a meditation on time, erosion, and material memory.
The exhibition is accompanied by an essay by Dayneris Brito, of which the following is an excerpt:
“Hahn’s practice navigates an ambiguous space between performance and materiality, where body and environment converge, generating poetic resonances from residues and quotidian elements—human sweat, salt, and copper—that are conventionally perceived as ephemeral or disposable. Through these materials, Hahn engages in a discourse on the liberatory potential of art—mental, corporeal, and intimate—placing the body at the center of this performative exploration. The display window at Vino Vero functions as a double-reflective mirror, where the viewer is invited to confront their own image within the work, engaging in a bidirectional reading: a dialogue in which the artwork simultaneously observes and addresses its observer.”
