From 19/02/2011 to 16/03/2011

Curated by Dores Sacquegna

Uncontaminated nature in its fascinating beauty and the animals that populate it , are the starting point of all the artists involved in the show, each with their own personal style, ready to offer their point of view.

Among parks, savannas, forests, reserves, rivers, the exhibition brings alive, from the North to the South, the unexplored paradise that surrounds us and the habitat of wildlife , herds of buffalo by Elizabeth Levin, gorillas by Sergio Gotti , pelicans which dominate in the water of Pinar Selimoglu, a lone wolf by Chris Rodriguez or that infinite number of small insects that live in the photos made by Nicole Hametner. Wild nature in the photos by Vivien Schmidt.

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Dal 08/01/2011 al 16/02/2011.

curated by Dores Sacquegna

An archive of work from artists around the world who trace the story of mankind and of our land as a gift – both symbolically and productively. With “Bela Zsolt’s Nine Suitcases”, an installation made up of 9 vintage suitcases and 49 characters in glazed terracotta, the artist from Taranto in Puglia Maria Grazia Carriero highlights multiethnic cultures which are populated by tourists,
immigrants, refugees, political exiles and non–seasonal workers or other groups and classes of  ‘travelling’ people capable of playing a role on the world-wide stage that is life. The concept of culture and of identity is subject to laws and rules with regards to their transformation, from their underlying layers, and from the multi-cultural comparison of their encounters. American video artist Alee People maintains an artistic practicality whereby she includes politics in the video “Crowning Glory”. Born in Pennsylvania and now living in Texas, the sculptor Peter Barbor explores the paradoxes of contemporaneity through the working of various materials (drawings and ceramics). In the piece “Chicken Scratch” he has created a ‘challenge’ between the chicken and the egg in an ironic attempt to dismantle the question of which came first and to create tension between the past and the present.

The Korean Jang Soon Im (currently living in the US) in the video “Salsoo Battle” give the ancient soldiers appear to have come from a cartoon. The artist creates the scenery, designs the uniforms, plans the positions, sets the moves and controls the battle. Whether it’s a canvas or a video the artist recreates the theatricality of the event. In contrast to a real war these do not end tragically. At the end of the battle the winner receives a “Wonder Girl” as a prize. In the vein of irony between publicity and history we have the work of Dutch Peter De Boer with “Ivo Shima” created with video footage and photography that represents the standard heroic image and the victory over Western oppression. The soldiers show their victorious flags with the logos of the largest corporations such as IBM or Boeing etc. Ironically the freedom from oppression has brought us to an economical depression. And so the question posed is from what have we freed ourselves? In the video “Paris: An Orbit Portrait”, Swedish Malin Petterson Oberg depicts Paris acting as the central point in which two stories revolve and thus comparing the lacuna, the attractions, the dissonances between the past and the present of the city and exploring the different time and cultural expectations. In the photographic piece “ Viv (r) e la vie!” the Spanish artist Ana Galan has depicted 15 couples who are living their daily lives. A sort of visual catalogue to highlight these people and to document their cultural differences, their behaviour, their body language and their roles in each of the chosen countries.

How can we recapture the aspect/dimension of contemporary memory of the past? Simply by living is the answer according to E. Andrew Lindsay (from the UK) who in the photographic series “The Path” investigates the ambiguous and hazardous nature of life. In “The Path” we see a young family walking along a country path. In the third frame a young man is lying facedown on the grass crying. A study into sensibilities, into complicated and failed relationships. Who are we? Where are we going? It’s a question posed by photographer Rodrigo Dada (El Salvador), who explores his reasons in moments of relaxation, of sharing with other individuals, in getting to know others or to knowing oneself. We are the story because we tell it, through our daily gestures, or choices, and our behaviours. Whilst the German Til Köhler focuses on the night trams which transport millions of people and are containers to their many stories of loneliness and hope. The American With “Heaven” by Stephanie Powell, born in Japan, the incense smoke that escapes from the sacred cup has two connotations, the first is cultural, the second is a holy representation of lost souls.

The more intimate pictorial work of the French Ioan Herteg focuses attention on the sacrificial and on memory with his work “Oculus divinus”. The exhibition closes with the unedited videoperformance “Homage to J. Beuys” from Gruppo Sinestetico. Using synaesthetic philosophy and Beuysian thinking, the artist’s work is based on our contact with nature and the involvement of the five senses and also of the protection of the environment and of mankind, of the harmony and communication between people of different cultures, origins, religion, and socio-political status.

artists in exhibition: Maria Grazia Carriero, Alee People, Peter Barbor,Jang Soon Im, Peter De Boer,Malin Petterson Oberg, Ana Galan,Andrew Lindsay, Rodrigo Dada,Til Köhler,Stephanie Powell,Ioan Herteg,Gruppo Sinestetico, Ferdando Schiavano.

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