“D’Io”
Gino de Dominicis

From the 15th century, the Bethleem Chapel, flamboyant gothic style, is a listed building since 1911. Each of its buttresses has pinnacles adorned with chimeras. In the nineties, these chimeras were restored, except for one pillar, the iconographic documents having been lost. Its chimeras were replaced by modern sculptures: the south eastern pillar (the pillar of unconsciousness) is now adorned with three chimeras depicting Goldorak, two Gremlins (one of which is Gizmo), modern symbols of the fight between good and evil.

A figure of the Italian art, born in 1947 and deceased in 1998, Gino de Dominicis is an artist difficult to define. All life long, he surrounded himself with mysteries. These mysteries were fuelled by his highly esoteric, if not provocative, creations. Solitary and sarcastic, he went on eventually forbidding any reproductions of his pieces.

D’lo, created in 1971, is a sound installation. When near the chapel, a booming and insistent laugh, none other than the artist’s laugh, takes the spectator by surprise. Gino de Dominicis’ piece is a play on word: in Italian, “d’lo” means either “god” or “me”. He seems here to ironically imply the notion of the artist as a demiurge.

— Courtesy Italo Tomassoni et Association Gino de Dominicis.

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