The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MAMCO) and the Geneva Housing Cooperative Society (SCHG) are launching a pioneering collaboration by installing a work from the museum’s collection in a housing complex in the Vieusseux district.

The work in question is Venus of Cream (2020), a bronze sculpture by Brazilian artist Erika Verzutti (*1971). At human scale (210 × 79 cm), this piece is part of the MAMCO collection (donation MKS PAMP, Inv. 2024-2) and was presented at the 3rd edition of the Geneva Sculpture Garden Biennale, curated by Devrim Bayar (Kanal Pompidou, Brussels).

Born in São Paulo, Erika Verzutti develops a unique artistic language that combines familiar and abstract forms. Her sculptures, made from unexpected materials and surprising juxtapositions, oscillate between spiritual (Tantra), culinary (Tapioca) and artistic (Magritte) references. Her syncretic approach challenges the preciousness of materials while revisiting universal archetypes.

Venus of Cream is part of a series of sculptures inspired by the Venus of Willendorf, a prehistoric totemic figure. Verzutti offers variations in bronze or papier-mâché, composed of moulded or memory-shaped fruit, which question notions of fertility, memory and materiality.

The choice of the Vieusseux neighbourhood is not accidental. Designed in the 1930s by Maurice Braillard, the Cité Vieusseux is a prime example of modern architecture in Switzerland. The site, which was rebuilt between 1968 and 1990, will soon be integrated into a comprehensive restructuring project that will also include the Villars and Franchises Cités.

This project illustrates the shared desire of the MAMCO and the SCHG to anchor contemporary art in the daily lives of the inhabitants and to enrich the urban fabric of Geneva. In the same spirit, the SCHG is also providing logistical support for the exhibition by Sarah Benslimane, which will open on Thursday, 30 October 2025 at the Société des Arts de Genève (Palais de l’Athénée).