‘Âcre’ by Rachele Zennaro

Âcre by Rachele Zennaro
The work takes shape as a performative action that triggers a short circuit between body, public space, and cultural iconography.
The artist reworks the iconic cone bra, made famous by Jean Paul Gaultier in the 1990s and itself derived from 1940s lingerie, removing it from the circuit of fashion and reintroducing it into an urban and symbolically charged context: the space in front of Turin Cathedral.
Worn on a bare torso, the bra loses its original function and assumes an ambiguous, almost paradoxical role. On the one hand, it operates as a device of visual attraction, a kind of signal that intercepts the gaze of passersby; on the other, it exposes the very logic that renders it necessary. The artist deliberately positions herself in a “strategic” location, fully aware that the female body, especially in public space, is still read as provocative. The action is structured as a relational mechanism: the bra becomes a visual trap, a pretext for activating dialogue. The attention captured by the anomaly of the body and the garment is transformed into an opportunity for direct confrontation with the potential viewer. Within this semantic slippage, the work attempts to unsettle the censorship of the female nipple, which is still classified as sexual content and therefore deemed inappropriate, both in digital spaces and within social and institutional contexts.

2025
Performance by Rachele Zennaro
Video: Carlo Corbellini
Sound: Carlo Corbellini