Chapter IV
Everyday objects – objects of desire
Senza titolo, 1968 (Detailed view)
“I have always loved objects
and situations that were rejected.”
Carol Rama
Shaving brushes, shovels, dentures, shoemakers’ lasts. Rama presents the viewer with a selection of curious objects. These seemingly banal, unnoticed items take on important roles in the artworks.
The functions are ever-changing. They are pictorial motifs or work materials. Protagonists or accessories. They convey something cryptic, something disturbing, and raise taboo questions. In Rama’s works, the objects take on symbolic roles. They represent ideas that surpass the actual character of the object with multi-layered meanings. They frequently personify family members. For example, many of the items come from the workplace or home of her parents, grandmother, and extended family. The objects in question also prompt subconscious and psychological associations. They can be triggers or cause fixations. They are also objects of desire, erotic fantasies, and fetishes.
“Teatrino n. 3” (En. Miniature Theater No. 3) shows a collection of votive offerings, also known as “ex votos”. In Catholicism, Ex votos are small, handcrafted objects including paintings, metal reliefs, or wax figurines. They show entire bodies or individual parts, such as legs, eyes, and torsos. The body parts depicted represent illnesses, and their devout donors offer them with a plea for healing. Rama’s painted votive offerings – lower legs and feet – are strangely formed and reminiscent of hooves. According to Catholic beliefs, hooves are associated with evil. Once again, the artist challenges belief systems.
The densely packed collection of shoemakers’ lasts frames the eponymous figure in the work, “Nonna Carolina”, who was Rama’s grandmother. The incorporeal female figure is partially concealed by a blanket. Her head rests on a pillow, and leeches hang from her neck. In the early 20th century, leeches were a common medical treatment. The shoemakers’ lasts are a reference to her Uncle Edoardo and his profession. Leather is hammered and stretched upon the last to form shoes. All of the visual elements are references to the artist’s childhood.
“…Everyday objects that give pleasure,
that bring disorder and eroticism into everyday life.”
Carol Rama
Rama often repeats motifs in an encyclopedic fashion. “Opera n. 15” (En. Work No. 15 [Dentures], 1939) shows a collection of dentures. The viewer is confronted with anxiety-inducing thoughts: tooth loss and going to the dentist. The dentures are an allusion to one of her aunts, who lost all of her teeth early in life. The sight of them in her aunt’s home made a lasting impression on Rama. Void of any context in the artistic staging, they stimulate the viewer’s imagination and prompt them to make their own associations.
Four shovels are lined up in a row, each one different than the last. Once again, Carol Rama plays with repetition and a variation on a theme. These spades are not “just” spades. They evoke a series of associations, such as spinal columns, pelvic bones, and vulvas. Although they are everyday objects, these shovels trigger a sense of unease. The title of the work (En. Patent No. 7689 R [Shovels]) can be read as a biographical reference. The artist’s father Amabile had several patents registered to his name.
“I love fetishes and sex.
Sex dreamed, sex imagined…”
Carol Rama
Elegant high-heels and shaving brushes are presented together. These objects are not usually found directly alongside each other in everyday life. They both represent historical, binary gender roles. The women’s shoes give the wearer a seductive gait, and the brush is a common tool in men’s morning routine. Upon closer inspection, one can discern that the delicate pink linings of the shoes resemble penises. Both the shoes and the brushes – whose fine bristles can stimulate the senses – become objects of desire and trigger fetishistic worship.
What does “fetish” mean?
The core idea of “fetish” is to give an object meaning. In cultural anthropology, “fetishes” are defined as representations of gods and ancestors. They are used in certain rituals, through which they gain supernatural meaning. These fetish objects were historically only attributed to societies and religions in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Global South. From a contemporary perspective, there is recognition that symbolically significant objects exist in all religions, including Catholicism.
In psychology, an erotic or sexual fetish refers to arousal caused by seeing or feeling otherwise non-sexual body parts, materials, or objects. The fetish stimulates and gratifies an individual by taking on a proxy role for a sexual partner.
In Rama’s works, everyday objects are repeatedly used as artistic subjects in order to break out of everyday life and unlock secret desires.
It was her public recognition of these desires that would cross the boundaries of the conservative-Catholic milieu of bourgeois Turin and end in scandal. Nevertheless, Rama’s art demonstrates the allure of transgressing boundaries and giving space for the aspects of human existence that are suppressed by common social conventions. Her complete body of work is a confident statement by an unwavering nonconformist.
“Those who live in an inner freedom are free.
They are outside of iconography, outside of convention.”
Carol Rama
With over 100 works from all her creative phases, the SCHIRN presents the first comprehensive survey exhibition of Carol Rama’s work in Germany. The artist’s oeuvre leaves an everlasting impression. Transgressive, lustful, shocking, and life-affirming – her works reflect the spectrum of human existence. Carol Rama seems to defy easy categorization, but one thing is clear; her powerful message has never been as relevant as it is today. Her work and her uncompromising directness will remain timeless.
Secret Tip
The three cards in “I tarocchi” (1948, En. Tarot Cards) are taken from the “Rider Waite Smith Tarot” published in 1910.
The following cards are displayed from left to right. ”The World” represents self-knowledge, harmony, and a happy ending. The “Wheel of Fortune” represents the perpetual motion of the Universe and the ebb and flow of life. This card heralds happiness and success, but also points to the impermanence of these things. The “Ace of Wands” represents new beginnings or growth and invites you to take the initiative yourself, but it can also be a warning about trials to come.
Pamela Colman Smith, The World, Wheel of Fortune, Ace of Wands, 1910
The cards have fixed meanings, but Rama’s message remains undefined. How do you interpret the reading?
Experience the rebellious world of this unique artist until February 2, 2025, in her first survey exhibition in Germany, presented by the SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE FRANKFURT.