SILENT SPACES: A DIFFERENT KIND OF ART

In the challenging period of the pandemic, wherever possible, galleries have tried their best to continue their activities. In Italy in particular it has meant significant struggles, as the virus has been very aggressive on the population for an extended period of time, forcing citizens and activities to continuous adjustments.

The association Arte e Design Venezia (Venice Art and Design) presented in fall the exhibition “Spazialità Silenziose”, Silent Spaces that hosted international artists in a show that still deserves international attention.

It took place in S. Eufemia Gallery in Venice, between the 20th of September and the 20th of October 2020, and was even highlighted during Venice Design Week as an in-gallery experience.

Let’s see what made this exhibition so special and why it is important to still talk about it.

Space, time and human psychology are the themes that connect all pieces in a very subtle way that requires a deeper attention from the viewers.

Most important, the concept is that the audience really has to work as in a puzzle to understand the meaning of each piece and connect to the artist.

Different techniques were exhibited: paintings, engraving, photography and even jewellery.

So, these are two of the reasons that make this exhibition particular:

1- it has created a fil rouge between different techniques and arts usually not mixed in galleries

2- it passed completely to the audience the task of connecting the dots

This form of interactivity and dynamic, pioneered in a time as hard as the pandemic, shows that some cultural realities are not just being brave, they are working on bringing more ingredients to the art experiences in galleries.

Let’s give a look at the local and International choice of artists that displayed their “silent spaces” to the gallery as works to be connected.

Let’s start with Alberto Lo Verso and Laura Lo Verso with pieces having Venice and its views as the main themes.

Laura Lo Verso is an international artist who has among the others an international professional experience drawing for no less than Walt Disney. Today she is committed to the study of landscapes and nature following the school of the traditional master artists from Veneto.

Alberto Lo Verso is also inspired by the classics, in this case the paintings of Canaletto, Tiepolo and Guardi (hence again all inside Veneto and its history) are the inspiration for his graphic work made of ink and pastel. He has a slightly different background, having an education in ancient literature and philology, which makes his classic approach incredibly unique.

Marco Picciali showed his jewels that grab inspiration from flight, sky and space. Marco is a goldsmith-silversmith who has developed his own technique to create a more wearable jewellery, without sacrificing the uniqueness of the design. The union of metals and stones creates a story, the reading of which is left to the sensitivity of the viewer. His passion for flight and space is represented in the exhibited works, through the use of different techniques such as fretwork, pantograph engraving and more.

Massimo Porcelli is a photographer grown up surrounded by this art. By chance he found himself observing advertising posters hanging in the Parisian subway: it captivated him to the point that still today he is attracted by this form of art, not the advertising posters themselves, but the intervention of wind, rain and time on them. Old posters, torn, tainted, unstuck but yet mysterious and fascinating. His goal is to get people to stop and find the beauty in less attractive pieces that still are made attractive by the hand of time.

Brazilian Manuela Romeiro, from Sao Paulo, showed works that had the sea as main theme, and the transition from storm to calm after the storm. “Part and All” is a series consisting of drawings in Indian ink on cotton paper, and poems. The series is the consequence of a transformation of the perception of body, mind and reality meeting in a deep dance of silence in complete harmony, where the individual melts with the elements of a Brazilian coast. From the encounter between design and word we understand how any living or dead being is part of this harmonious dance and the divine silence.

Patrick Smith is a Canadian artist who focuses more on the idea of creating pieces where the importance is given to light and overlapping of colors. Patric is an experimental sculptor, with a previous career in geophysical research at the University of Toronto. Now he focuses on the creation of colored relief sculptures by overlapping thin foils typically made of resin and glass. The greater freedom given by these reliefs offers different angles of light to the viewer, helping to create different atmospheres and sensations that take life from the same work.

Finally Wang Jingyun and Rui Jiapeng are the Chinese artistic duo who displayed their works at S. Eufemia. They study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and create works that build thoughts around space, time and sound, aiming to the viewers’ emotions. They worked together on the piece “Fuori Dalla Finestra” (Out Of The Window) emphasizing the importance of this object that separates the private space from the external space and the different perception between the camera’s eye and the human eye. “Io Sono Qui” (I Am Here) is their second work displayed at the exhibition, this time it emphasizes the heartbeat of the artists, who can communicate with the audience through sounds.

In this video you can see the exhibition as shown in Venice at the S. Eufemia Gallery.

To learn more about the association, you can visit their website Arte e Design Venezia .

If you are interested in contacting the artists, e.g. to show their works in your gallery, you can reach the association from their website or NYSG correspondent from Italy, Flora MC, (use her instagram for the sake of brevity), and your messages will be delivered to the association.