La Tana del Matto

March 21, 2026 – August 23, 2026
Among the most radical and distinctive voices on the international contemporary art scene, Joris Van de Moortel develops a multidisciplinary practice that interweaves painting, sculpture, installation, sound, performance, and writing. His work draws on Northern European art history, mysticism, music, madness as a form of knowledge, and the ritual dimension of the creative act.

With La Tana del Matto, the first two floors of the museum are transformed into a total, immersive installation conceived as a mental and symbolic universe: a “den” understood as a refuge, a cave, an intimate space and, at the same time, a place of exploration. Visitors are invited to lose themselves among visionary images, sounds, mythological references, and historical stratifications, in a continuous dialogue between the sacred and the profane, order and chaos, past and present. At the heart of the project emerges the figure of the Fool—an ancient and ambiguous archetype—not as a mere emblem of madness, but as a possibility of freedom, reversal, and transformation.

The exhibition features new works created specifically for Locarno, alongside paintings, sculptures, light elements, videos, and sound interventions, forming an intense and unsettling journey that raises questions about the human condition, time, spirituality, and the role of art today.