L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, APRIl 2, 2015 www.italoamericano.com 6 "Follow me…": five artists together for an experience of sens- es around the human body A c a l l t o m o v e b e t w e e n lights and sounds, an invitation to be embraced and inspired by different ways of feeling the body in a space, which can be real, cultural or ethereal. Follow Me…, the exhibition that opened l a s t w e e k i n S a n F r a n c i s c o , brought five artists and their w o r k s t o g e t h e r , c r e a t i n g a n experience of senses and sensi- bility thanks to moving images, light and colors and their move- m e n t s i n a s p a c e . M e r i s A n g i o l e t t i , A l e s s a n d r o Cardinale, Zoè Gruni, Laura Riboli, and Matteo Vinti are the contemporary Italian artists who used their video and light instal- lations to represent the theme of embodiment and to encourage the viewers to gain awareness of their own bodies, of its beauty and preciousness and look for its appreciation in actual life, in rit- uals, and through mythology. Maria Francesca Palmerio, the art curator, took us on a journey around the exhibition, revealing what viewers' only sight cannot catch. First of all, tell us about the title of the exhibition.. The title refers to the journey o n t o w h i c h v i s i t o r s e m b a r k when entering the gallery. The chosen artworks clearly point towards a number of themes. H o w e v e r , t h e s h o w o f f e r s e n o u g h r o o m f o r a p e r s o n a l interpretation. "Follow me…" is an invitation to discover the exhibition on your own, using subjective judgement. How would you describe the exhibition to somebody who has not seen it? At this point, I would rather try to convince who did not go to visit the show! We brought the video medium as an instru- ment to discover the body's rela- tions within a spatial context – either real or virtual – through visual languages that are keenly physical and sonorous. Video is an instrument close to our mod- ern way of living, capable of engaging our senses, more than what we would expect. Five dif- ferent forms of expression, in a single communicative space, where the path dedicated to the artworks' discovery becomes the viewer's personal interpretation. Each artist inevitably and simply analyzes the reality of the sens- es, with the presence of a living being in a given space – the presence of an individual who w a t c h e s a n d n a r r a t e s , o r i s watched and narrated. What convinced five artists to get together in the same exhibition? By studying the artists' port- folios, we noticed a genuine concern that addresses the body and how we position and view it, through the lens of history and culture, through utopia and a b s t r a c t i m a g i n a t i o n . I t w a s important to create diversity and opposition and choose artworks t h a t l a u n c h t h e b o d y i n t o a dynamic and critical dialogue: Zoè Gruni's mythical and ritual- istic approach, her inquiry into anthropology and legends; Meris Angioletti's interest in psycholo- gy, and matching theatrically staged conversations with con- templative color projections; M a t t e o V i n t i ' s p o e t i c a n d metaphorical explorations of death and ephemeral existence, expressed in a video sculpture and through prints; Laura Riboli, whose wonderfully crafted ani- mations of dancing objects taken o n h u m a n t r a i t s ; a n d f i n a l l y Alessandro Cardinale's mesmer- izing light installation - Memory fragments - that features silhou- e t t e s o f p e o p l e , o n c e p h o - tographed and captured in a split of a second, that now live on uncannily contained in a beam SERENA PERFETTO of light. Which message would you like to give to the viewers? We would like to make easi- er for people to express their feelings, to help show them- selves without any mask. Life comes and ends for all of us, what makes life interesting is talking about how everyone per- ceives it. These artists talk about their perceptions, each in his/her own way. W h i c h w a s t h e b i g g e s t challenge you faced by work- ing together? There were mixed types of experience: Anna Dusi is a "vet- eran". I still have "fresh" eyes, because just finished my stud- ies, and Katharina worked with the curators standing on the other side (she is a composer who works in art). So we had a melting pot of views, indeed the real challenge was the installa- tion itself: playing with many sounds and lights in one place has not been easy. Katharina has been a keystone, she brought her sound experience as a com- poser and that helped a lot. Will you exhibit somewhere else? Yes! We would like to make of the exhibition "Follow me … " a traveling show and bring it first in the gallery of Building Bridges Art Exchange in Santa M o n i c a . W e a r e a l r e a d y fundraising for a second expo- sure. Here in San Francisco, the e x h i b i t i o n i s a t t h e I s t i t u t o Italiano di Cultura and also sup- p o r t e d b y t h e n o n - p r o f i t Building Bridges Art Exchange where Anna and I are active as - respectively - curator and assis- tant curator. We are not sure about the second round yet, but it will be a more varied one rep- resenting the Italian video art, because the larger space allows more freedom. Any plan to work together again? For me, the collaboration with Katharina Rosenberger has expanded my artistic knowledge because we have shared art- w o r k s a n d a r t ; o n t h e o t h e r hand, the artists have got the opportunity to deal with new and unknown artistic languages. A cognitive growth for both the c u r a t o r s a n d t h e a r t i s t s . W e should work more often through collaborations. T h e e x h i b i t i o n w i l l o p e n until Saturday, April 18 from M o n d a y t o F r i d a y ( 1 0 a m - 4 . 3 0 p m ) a t I t a l i a n C u l t u r a l I n s t i t u t e ( 8 1 4 M o n t g o m e r y Street, San Francisco). Left to right: Katharina Rosenberger, one of the exhibition curators, Maria Francesca Palmerio, Anna Dusi, the Italian exhibition curator 650.400.4747 AdeleDS@aol.com www.AdeleDS.com BRE# 00911740 Certied Trust, Probate and Estate Specialist Expert in preparation, promotion, and negotiation! SELLING HOMES THROUGHOUT THE BAY AREA Adele Della Santina "e Right Realtor makes all the difference." Katharina Rosenberger setting up the exhibition

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