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No Words and Too Many is the fourth show in the cycle Paròla: espressione femminile at the Studiolo exhibition space of the De Pietri Artphilein Foundation.

Two very different women, both with a strong autobiographical presence in their work. One is Sophie Calle – famous and acclaimed throughout the world for her autobiographical and voyeuristic work centred on the coupling of image and text – while the other is Princess Pea – an introspective and mysterious artist with strong links to her homeland and to the social issues for which she is a spokesperson, and who leaves the word to those who observe her works, full of latent, unspoken meanings.

For Sophie Calle, we have chosen a multiple entitled Cruciverbiste and a selection of books (exhibited in the Artphilein Library) precisely because the word always accompanies her work, right from her debut with Les Dormeurs to more recent works such as Preneiz soin de vous. Autobiography, voyeurism and fiction are the fundamental building blocks of her art. Looking at Cruciverbiste and leafing through her books reveals a multifaceted soul, converging in one key word: sharing. Sharing personal experiences, whether real or lifelike, bring her closer to the experience of each of us and make her one of us. A farewell letter, the story of her mother, a reflection on herself, on death or life… Such themes are close to everyone’s heart, and she herself often asks the spectator to identify with her and become the protagonist of her story (as she herself has done ever since her early works).

Princess Pea, who appears as a doll with an enormous head that she cannot see, hear or smell, lives between the real world and the land of fairy tales. The wooden toys constitute her primary extension, which itself has become an iconic image, embodying the values and rights of the Indian ‘girl child’ and the issues surrounding the identity of women in modern society, especially in India. The three wooden dolls on display, from the Infinite Forms series, represent the Indian female figure as seen by a woman: stereotypes and imposed limitations emerge without the need to add words.