Michael Beutler’s exhibition Onion, hosted in the Pinksummer spaces within the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, presents itself as an experiential environment that operates through subtraction rather than accumulation. Rather than displaying a set of artworks to be observed, Beutler constructs a situation in which the visitors are invited to slow down and renegotiate their relationship with space and time, transforming the act of viewing into an intentional engagement grounded in a direct, unmediated interaction with the structure.
Michael Beutler, “Onion”, 2026, installation view at PINKSUMMER, Genova. Photo © Federico Ghillino. Courtesy PINKSUMMER and the artist
At the center of the gallery stands a large installation made of papier-mâché and wood, taking the form of a room within a room. Rather than asserting itself as an autonomous object, the structure integrates into the existing architecture as an inhabitable volume, defined by a surface articulated with vertical folds that mark its perimeter. This architectural “skin,” predominantly light in tone but interspersed with patches of yellow, red, black, blue and green, conveys a sense of layering and use, as if the material retains the memory of successive gestures and interactions. Beutler speaks of an onion rather than a circle, shifting attention from a closed geometry to a logic of progressive wrapping. The work does not revolve around a fixed center nor define a stable perimeter, but is built through successive layers, through gradual approaches that never fully coincide. The form is not immediately legible at a glance: it reveals itself over time, through a relationship of proximity that engages both body and perception.
Michael Beutler, “Onion”, 2026, installation view at PINKSUMMER, Genova. Photo © Federico Ghillino. Courtesy PINKSUMMER and the artist
Access to the structure is through a “door,” a simple and recognizable element that introduces a familiar, domestic gesture: entering. This passage creates a perceptual shift, moving the experience from observation to presence. Inside, the space does not dictate a predetermined path nor offer narrative or symbolic cues. Visitors bring their own interiority with them, invited to linger rather than pass through. The activation of the work occurs spontaneously through a minimal gesture: the possibility of manually rotating the structure. This slow movement produces a subtle but meaningful transformation. The body remains essentially still, while the perception of space shifts, progressively detaching from the gallery’s stable configuration. The rotation does not create escape or spectacle, but introduces a state of suspension, in which the surrounding context temporarily loses its centrality.
Michael Beutler, “Onion”, 2026, installation view at PINKSUMMER, Genova. Photo © Federico Ghillino. Courtesy PINKSUMMER and the artist
The turning gate to which Beutler refers should not be understood as an architectural threshold in the strict sense, nor as a device of separation or control. Rather, it is a condition activated through use. The structure functions like a carousel without speed or noise: movement is not imposed, but gathered. It does not lead elsewhere, but anchors the visitor in an intermediate space. The choice of materials reinforces this temporal dimension. Wood, papier-mâché, water and salt are essential elements, devoid of monumentality, declaring a clear distance from any rhetoric of the sculptural object as a definitive form. The material appears exposed and permeable, subject to slow and continuous transformation: salt preserves and corrodes simultaneously, while water introduces instability that affects the overall experience of the structure. Time acts on the work not as an external factor, but as an active presence, capable of progressively altering its appearance and behavior.
Michael Beutler, “Onion”, 2026, installation view at PINKSUMMER, Genova. Photo © Federico Ghillino. Courtesy PINKSUMMER and the artist
Along the gallery walls, surrounding the central “onion” structure, are twelve small papier-mâché sculptures, each reminiscent of a house. These irregular volumes vary in size and configuration, not intended for habitation but for observation and selection. This constellation of micro-architectures does not present a systematic catalog, but opens up multiple possibilities, inviting each visitor to identify a form most aligned with their own sense of space and protection. The small houses trigger an imaginative and emotional construction rather than offering physical refuge. Without suggesting ideal models or dominant typologies, they open up a multiplicity of outcomes, affirming the different ways one can feel at home. In relation to the central structure, they expand the discourse on interiority, shifting it from an immersive dimension to a more reflective one, where choice becomes an integral part of the experience.
Michael Beutler, “Onion”, 2026, installation view at PINKSUMMER, Genova. Photo © Federico Ghillino. Courtesy PINKSUMMER and the artist
In Onion, interaction unfolds through essential, measured gestures. The slow movement of the structure, the attentive engagement with water, the selection of a house among others – all restore to the visitor an active role, free from productive purpose. Beutler thus constructs an experience that distances itself from acceleration and immediacy, proposing a mode of engagement based on presence and attentive listening. Onion functions precisely because it promises nothing: it asks only for time, attention, and the willingness to linger long enough for perception to begin to shift.
Info:
Michael Beutler | Onion
14.02.26 – 11.04.26
Pinksummer
Palazzo Ducale, Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, 9 – Genova
www.pinksummer.com
She graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Catania. During her lifetime, she has experienced various arts including sculpture, theatre, dance and photography, and the latter one became the springboard for her eclectic and innovative artistic path. In 2010, she approached the art curatorial world and started to write reviews and critical texts; later, she founded “Artisti Italiani – arti visive e promozione”, an organisation which deals with all the promotional aspects of contemporary art.
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