Nio
participation exposition a Lecce / Italie
Palmieri Foundation Lecce
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FONDAZIONE PALMIERI, Lecce, Italy
From 25 February to 08 March 2023
Primo Piano LivinGallery is pleased to present the contemporary art exhibition Venus Effect: Otherness of the Reflected Gaze conceived and curated by art critic and director Dores Sacquegna. The event under auspices by the Municipality and set up at the Palmieri Foundation in Lecce, will be inaugurated on Saturday 25 February at 7.00 pm in the presence of the mayor Carlo Salvemini, of the artists and the audience. During the opening day, is scheduled the Live performance AcustiKelettronix by the multi-instrumentalist musician and Italian composer Alberto "Nick" Bolettieri.
The theoretical debate on the representation of a subject or an artist's reasons for making a portrait is a phenomenon present both in art and in psychoanalysis and is linked to the profound nature of the individual, to his/her psyche, to the methods of perception of other than itself, to the relationship that is established between the subject/work and the painter/observer. In psychology this phenomenon is called the “Venus Effect”. We find an example in some famous paintings of the past such as that of Venus and Cupid by Velazquez, where the face of Venus reflected in the mirror turns its gaze to the painter or the viewer. This illusionistic method also used in photography and cinema is based on the idea that if the observer can see the portrait of the subject portrayed in the mirror, it means that the camera is not behind the actor. From this reflection comes the investigation of the exhibition entitled "Venus Effect: Otherness of the reflected gaze", which is not an exhibition of mirrors, but could be the story of the deception of the reflection, the symbiotic relationship that exists between the physical, visible, and real presence of the user and the imaginary, invisible, illusionistic presence of the object placed in front of. The work-body closes its circuit the moment it finds a gaze that questions it. The event is completed with the video art review titled "With Your Eyes" which is divided into short films, animations and interactive experiments that elevate the user from a simple spectator to a protagonist and an integral part of the story/work. On display the art catalogue with critical texts by Dores Sacquegna.
On display visual artists, video artists and musicians from the national and international scene, of different generations and backgrounds. The event is designed to create a constructive and multidisciplinary dialogue between the ancient Renaissance space of the Palmieri Foundation and the present of the contemporary art works exhibited according to a theme that plays on the otherness of the reflected gaze. With a selection of six animations and interactive experiments (four with music by Stuart Smith, and two by musicians Robert Ehle, Toby Rush), on display the American artist Anna Ursyn, whose works have been exhibited in important museums such as the Louvre, the Center Pompidou in Paris, the Tate in London, the MOMA Museum in New York City. Between idealized beauty and social messages emerge the female portraits by German Urban Artist Patrizia Casagranda, whose works, made on recycled materials, are collected and exhibited internationally. Between physical and digital identity, two light boxes from the Primo Piano collection by Gönül Nuhoğlu, an award-winning Turkish artist, known worldwide for her permanent public art in over twenty countries.
Painting has no limits or surface in the works by Pierluca Cetera, considered one of the most innovative Apulian artists also known abroad and on display with the series Suspensions and Purgatory, a labyrinthine installation on Dante's imagery. The theme of the double and of the specularity is present in the works of the Zero series by Apulian artist Fernando Spano who is also very active abroad and whose works play on the identity of icons and simulacra of ancient and contemporary art. The myth and ecstasy of the fragile Narcissus is renewed and investigates the sphere of subjectivity with the works by Apulian artist Luigi Caiffa, present on the Berlin scene and beyond. Questioning what the reality it is, in the invitation addressed to the user to reassemble the puzzle of an identity X by Apulian artist Monica Lisi with active exhibitions in Italy and some shows abroad. The identity of Self, archetypal and fragmented, is revealed in the works by Italian artist Maria Luisa Imperiali, known for the references to the self-portrait present in all her works. Beauty, death, transformation and change in the digital works by Lize Krüger, award-winning artist born in South Africa and based in the United Kingdom.
The mirror as a place to recognize or even disavow oneself is the story told in the video animation made by artistic duo with Nancy and Philip Barwell (she is from Algerian origins and Philip from England, both of them lives and works in France), they pay homage to the Allegory of bad government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti and by projecting the medieval painting at the time of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The control of reality and the nature of nothingness is present in the video by Iolanda Jansen, an internationally known young performer. The research of the Romanian cartoonist (French by adoption) Ioan "Nio"
Herteg is on the duality and symbology of archetypal and niotipi© images. Rebuilding the connection with oneself and re-recognizing where the mirror captures and shatters individual identities is the present research in the video The Garden of
Reflections: only one God/Self? taken from the project “Discomposed Portrait” by the Venetian artist Ivana Galli, known for her environmental installations and performances.
Perception and deception of forms in the work Three Mysterious Faces by Greek visionary artist George Pantelis Syrakis and redemption and damnation with the work by German artist and screenwriter Alexandra Kordas. A face-to-face between roles and faults, the research present in the work Crime Sisters by French artist Laurence Scheer, life and death, truth and fiction with the wok by the young American artist Chai Skyler Malin, known for her evocative images between what we are and what we will be. On the delicate balance that exists in the relationship between the Self and the Other, drama and fears, the hyper-realistic work by Hélène Planquelle, a young French artist and very active on a national level. Fears of the imminent also, in the work by young Russian artist Irina Vytyaganets, resident in Spain.
Alberto “Nick” Bolettieri, is an Italian multi-instrumentalist musician, composer and conductor, born in Milan. He has numerous concert and recording collaborations with great names of the international music scene in the field of jazz and pop music, including Nina Zilli, Marco Mengoni, Giuliano Sangiorgi, La Crus, Ennio Morricone, Armando Trovajoli, Paolo Fresu to name a few. Between 2010 and 2014, he held the role of principal trumpet in the orchestra accompanying the major Broadway musical shows, including Grease, Hairspray, Beauty and the Beast, Shrek, playing in Paris theatres and more. In addition to the concert field, he is engaged in the didactic field with the teaching of theory and music. On display with AcustiKelettronix, a new form of live solo performance that integrates improvisation and instantaneous composition of the trumpet with sampled and electronic sounds, played and driven live, obtaining each time a different and original performance connection with the exhibit space in which he performs.
Artists on display: Nancy & Philip Barwell (Algeria and UK), Alberto Nick Bolettieri (Italy), Luigi Caiffa (Italy), Patrizia Casagranda (Germany), Pierluca Cetera (Italy), Ivana Galli (Italy), Alexandra Kordas (Germany), Lize Krüger (South Africa), Ioan Herteg -Nio (Romania), Maria Luisa Imperiali (Italy), Iolanda Jansen ( The Netherland), Monica Lisi (Italy), Chai Skyler Malin (US), Gönül Nuhoğlu (Turkey), Hélène Planquelle (France), Laurence Scheer (France), Fernando Spano (Italy), George Syrakis (Greece), Anna Ursyn & Stuart Smith (US), Irina Vytyaganets (Russia).
Info: Renaissance venue of Palmieri Foundation (Ex Church of San Sebastian)
Vico dei Sotterranei, Lecce
Timetable: From Monday to Saturday from 16:30pm to 20:30pm
Morning and Sunday by appointment Phone art director: +39 349 37 20 659 primopianospecialprojects.com | primopianogallery@gmail.com
Free admission