Vernissage: thursday, May the 31st, h. 18.30 at Sala Dogana (Palazzo Ducale). For the occasion an artist talk with Cosima Montavoci, Nathalie Vanheule and Lorenzo Bordonaro.
The exhibition is open: From the 1st to the 17th of June, from 10.00 to 19.00 (accept sunday and monday)
Photo by Genovatoday.it
The aim of the exhibition is to investigate the contemporary representations of the Vanitas iconography, through several interpretations. The fragility of the human being it is a historical subject in visual art, with a broad diffusion in time of war: in ancient time, this subject found expression in the roman Memento Mori iconography, and then in the Vanitas symbology, approaching the bloody Thirty Years War. The XVII century has been the peak of this artistic production, creating a constellation of symbols representing impermanence (such as unlit candles, skulls, still life nature). In this iconography, the fragility of human existence became a medium to communicate the danger and the tragedy of war, but this massage, within the exhibition, is narrated with a different perspective, reflective and mystic, rather than a violent one. In the same age, the city of Genova was living the highest and richest moment of its history (“el Siglo de Los genoveses”), a period that will end with the massive town bombing by part of the French Army.
The war, its tragedy, and the thought of the humans concerning the violence of war are placed at the center of the exhibition, who use the medium of contemporary art with the aim of communicating to new generations what the conflict means, and what the conflict leaves. In contemporary time, a violent transition is happening, and the representation of caducity can give us new interpretative key through contemporary artworks and practices: canvases, videos, and installations, who translate and imaginary strongly rooted in the collective memory, exploring ancient symbol in a contemporary way.
The fugacity of human experience finds so new representations, embodied in materials which are in time to time intangible or heavy, triggering a reflection on the concepts of memory and identity rebuilding.
Event in collaboration with the City of Genova, Palazzo Ducale, Riprendiamoci Genova association. With the patronage of the Unesco.
Photo by IoDeposito
Artworks by: Cosima Montavoci (Olanda/Italia), Angela Lloyd, Nathalie Vanheule (Belgium) Lorenzo Bordonaro (Italy-Portugal), Coral Woodbury (Usa), Carola Minincleri Colussi (Italy), Boris Beja (Slovenia), Juan Alberto Negroni (Portorico), Stefano Zaratin (Italy).
(original text by B#SIDE war)
