- Venue
- Villa Bondi
- Location
- Italy
It was refreshing and exciting to find Art Caffe London, run by Nadia Spita, involved in organising a show of contemporary conceptual art at The Villa Bondi in Marina Di Pisa, Italy. The event runs from 1st -10th June 2012. Entitled ‘7 Deadly Sins’ the concept for the show was to bring to the viewer’s attention the notion of how we are destroying our precious or rather precarious world by our human frailties and thoughtlessness as detailed by the 7 deadly sins. These 7 sins are the Original sins as viewed by the Catholic Church; it is these cardinal sins that are considered to destroy our personal charity, love and care for our world; these are; wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony. The expression of the 7 deadly sins and the concept of their destructive nature are illustrated in this show by artwork and designs that have been produced by utilizing objects that would normally have been discarded. Through the re-creation of the old and unwanted objects to something new this exhibition illustrates how we can turn our thoughtlessness around and alter the way we consider our actions in discarding rubbish. By showing works that regenerate old materials into artifacts with new meanings produces not only an exciting conceptual show but also a political message; reminding us to consider how we can save our world from destruction through our own greed and selfishness; to consider how we are creating huge landfill sites that stand ugly, full of discarded unwanted goods. This show encourages us to think by creating images and works of beauty out of objects that are no longer of any use to us.
As art director for the show Nadia Spita explained to me that it was easier to organize this show from London, Nadia is rightly excited to see the show reach fruition.
Visiting Tuscany a few times a year I struggle to find any conceptual contemporary exhibitions that reach out beyond the safe comfort zone of Italians specific cultural heritage. Within the bastion of sculpture in Pietrasanta, famous for its historical figures such as Michelangelo, chinks of new interpretations of sculpture occasionally escape from the traditional marble and bronze sculptural studios. Lucca has a Museum of Contemporary art; here within a crisp clean new white cube space a programme of mainly modernist art exists. Postmodernism or contemporary conceptual art seems to have been largely ignored or passed by without notice. Maybe there is no-one who wants to take a risk here in Tuscany and present new concepts and notions within postmodern art, departing from the rich Italian cultural heritage. So rightly Nadia Spita should be extremely proud of what she has achieved in this conceptual show. When viewing the works on the opening night it was interesting that the majority of works were by Italian artists. Obviously there are burgeoning Italian conceptual artists and it was refreshing to see their work displayed within the Villa and its grounds in Marina Di Pisa.
Viewing the selected works for exhibition it is the interpretation of the concept of the show that is important; the works have to speak for themselves. I found it difficult to understand all the artists’ concepts within the impressive colour catalogue of work detailing each of the artist’s time and energy placed into recycling and recreating. My pigeon Italian would not allow me such an understanding without an impressive dictionary to hand and hours to spare. No, to be successful the works have to be interpreted not only for what they have become but what they have come from. To illustrate the conceptual message that we must change our ways to save our world from falling under mountains of unwanted items discarded and forgotten, left to decay as we dream for something new to replace what we consider we have no longer any need for; to understand that in the western world we are too rich for our own good to care or consider our actions in a throwaway society; we have to understand the way the works are created.
Some of these works were intriguing as well as beautiful. A globe like structure made out of cigarette filters by Lorenzo Filomeni could be interpreted on multiple levels. Not only are we creating rubbish, and destroying our physical world, we are also smoking ourselves to destruction. Some exhibits were interactive, performative constructions. Three Italian artists had collaborated on creating a construct that placed used objects inside a large sealed space designed so that you could feel but not see what they were. The interaction involved in this piece of work was taken a step further by broken mirrors placed at eye level which allowed you to view yourself, squinting your eyes and face as you moved and wriggled your hands inside the box deciphering what it was that was hidden from view. There is always that hidden element of worry that you may find something you do not wish to feel; it is the unknown element in this work that creates the tension in the interaction between the work and the performer.
Large Sculptures were placed around the garden of childlike figures by David Paolinetti; Created from broken pieces of ceramic; ceramic that once held food and drink now held its own beauty as sculptural images of playful children. As twilight fell they took on an ethereal, otherworldly quality. How I would love to have taken one of these home with me.
Many of the works have turned a serious message to a whimsical playful level by recreating artifacts that in themselves hold an element of fun.
Others, like David Paolinetti’s sculptures hold within them an element of an uncanny otherworldliness. It was intriguing to discover or decipher what they had once been and to view the eloquent and intriguing way artists had transformed these elements into exciting pieces of conceptual art.
Please; let’s see more of this type of conceptual art in this part of Italy.
