TERRA COTTA
07 jun 2018 – 14 sep 2018
The group show terra-cotta presents a reflection about the recovery of a material as old as man, but still capitally important in contemporary artistic production.
The six invited artists, different by education and background, show, through their works, a variety of ways to treat clay first, then terracotta or ceramic, being bound by a common fascination for molding the material, impressing a mark which can be either primitive, playful or conceptual.
The work of Benedetto Pietromarchi (Rome, 1972) – a zoo-anthropomorphic container that contains himself, terracotta that encloses raw soil (terra cruda), to mold itself in the polychrome ceramics of the vases – conceptually introduces the theme of the exhibition. The artist has personally dealt with the entire production process, from the extraction of clay to its cooking, focusing on the relation with the territory and the physical origin of the work, whose exact coordinates are imprinted on the surface of the container. The roots branching from hung vases seem to yearn for a return to the same soil that originated them, blurring the lines between nature and artifact. This intimate, almost carnal, relation with the material animates Annalisa Guerri’s works (Rome, 1979); clay is transformed into paper-thin porcelain which becomes delicate and fragile and her sculptures gradually acquire body and volume, yet maintaining unprecedented preciousness and chromatic brilliance.
The juxtaposition and the shaping by instinctive additions is shared by the small figures of Emiliano Maggi (Rome, 1977), who inhabit a symbolic and mythological universe fostered by the same energy of prehistoric fictile Venuses. In a sort of theater of ancient characters, sculptures seem to be developing a silent dialogue among them. The head by Davide Rivalta (Bologna, 1974) looks equally ancient and ancestral, yet being an hyper-contemporary, sinthetic and agile female portrait: pure clay molded witha few touches, eternalizing the features of a dear face.
Expanding on the idea of the game, and developing the most playful potential of this material, Davide Monaldi’s pop sculptures (San Benedetto del Tronto, 1983) are indistinguishable from everyday objects, but actually hide a great technical complexity. Concluding the exhibition, the small ‘sitting donkey’ by Manuela Cirino (Milan, 1962) – whose terracotta fur disintegrate into tiny bits of paper – seems to whisper a story to be completed, an echo of a fairytale that every visitor can recall in his personal journey.
MANUELA CIRINO
Born in Milan in 1962, she lives and works between Novara and Milan. Educated at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts with Lucian Fabre, among her most significant solo show we remind L’immagine negata (2012 – Galleria Martano, Turin) that in May 2014 was further presented at Galleria Milano in L’immagine negata #2 open/close. Among the group shows, she exhibited at the Galleria Il Vicolo di Genova and at the Mar & Partners Art Gallery in Turin; internationally at the Ottawa Gallery 101 and the Kiel Stadtgalerie.
ANNALISA GUERRI
Born in 1979, she lives and works between Rome and Sulmona. In 2016 her works were exhibited in several galleries internationally, including the Teijon Masuuni in Finland, the Parisian Scene Ouverte Gallery and the Yingge Ceramic Museum in Taiwan. In October 2017 the artist presented her Italian solo show Imaginariumat the RBFineart gallery in Milan.
EMILIANO MAGGI
Born in 1977 in Rome, where he lives and works. For the booth of Operativa Arte Contemporanea at Artissima 2016 he conceived the installation Spettro Sound System. For the same Roman gallery, in April 2015, the artist opened a series of exhibitions entitled Two or three things I like. Among his previous exhibitions can be mentioned: Diversi Muri Istituto Svizzero, Rome (2014); There is no place like home, Rome (2014); The song of the Nymphs, Mona Museum, Tasmania (2014).
DAVIDE MONALDI
Born in 1983 in San Benedetto del Tronto (AP), he lives and works in Rome. His most recent solo shows include La conquista dello spazio, at Spazio K (Sotterranei of the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino, 2017) and LUCKY LOSER at Studio Sales by Norberto Ruggeri (Rome, 2017). Among the group shows we remind the recent participation of the artist in La Collezione San Patrignano. Work in progress, on show at the Milan Triennale (April 2018).
BENEDETTO PIETROMARCHI
Born in Rome in 1972, he lives and works in Capalbio. He graduated in sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara. Of Saints and Sailors is the title of his last solo show hosted by Josh Lilley Gallery in London in 2016, while in 2014 at the Galeria Christopher Paschall in Bogotà (Colombia) the artist presented his works in the exhibition Heaven On Mars (2014). He has very recently took part in the goup show Down to Earth (Capalbio, 2017).
DAVIDE RIVALTA
Born in 1974 in Bologna, where he lives and works. Among his most recent works, the group of bronze lions set up on the steps of the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome (2016). In 2016, with the Fonderia De Carli of Volvera (Turin), he realized five bronze buffaloes, while in 2012 the animal sculptures by Davide Rivalta invaded the city of Ravenna on the occasion of the exhibition “Terre Promesse”.
FRANCESCA ANTONINI ARTE CONTEMPORANEA
Via Capo le Case, 4
Rome
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