Chloé Delarue Featured in Group Show at Istituto Svizzero in Rome
Exploring Contemporary Image Regimes Through Neon and Historical Motifs
Visitors to Rome can experience a major new presentation by artist Chloé Delarue, whose work is currently on view in a group exhibition at the Istituto Svizzero. Represented internationally by the Nicolas Krupp Gallery, Delarue’s newly commissioned piece forms a key part of her ongoing research into how automation, digital systems, and modern technological infrastructures shape human perception and embodiment.
The exhibition runs through January 1, 2027, offering audiences an extended opportunity to engage with contemporary sculpture and installation work that bridges historical visual motifs with the digital present.
What to Expect from TAFAA – SIGNAL (SPIN AN EMPTY VESSEL, THIS IS FINE)
The centerpiece of Delarue’s contribution is a newly commissioned neon installation designed specifically for the façade of the Istituto Svizzero. Titled TAFAA – SIGNAL (SPIN AN EMPTY VESSEL, THIS IS FINE) (2025), the work draws its foundational drawing from a Renaissance emblem book—historical collections of motifs compiled when the advent of print first enabled the mass circulation of images.
By reinterpreting this historical symbol, the installation draws a direct parallel between sixteenth-century motifs and modern internet memes. Both forms rely less on fixed meaning than on their capacity to circulate, transform, and undergo endless appropriation within visual culture.
The installation reflects on the sun as a motif historically tied to divinity, power, and revelation, but now stripped of a stable religious, political, or cosmological referent. Through repetition and overexposure, the symbol persists not for what it signifies, but through its sheer capacity to reappear. This dynamic mirrors the material reality of the sun itself: an entity that projects permanence through an unceasing flux of singular photons.
The Material and Conceptual Role of Neon
Delarue utilizes neon to physicalize the tensions between apparent continuity and underlying instability. Just as the sun creates an illusion of stability through constant recomposition, neon light is produced by an unstable electrical discharge that endlessly renews itself. Rather than illustrating a narrative, the installation's illuminated presence emits light directly, transforming a traditional symbol into an open signal that highlights the rapid circulation, depletion, and rebirth of digital-era imagery.
To discover more contemporary art exhibitions and cultural destinations across the region, visitors can plan their itinerary using Musemap (musemap.art). To explore further, browse the full museums list or check out the interactive map view.
