Contemporary Art Exhibition at Fondazione Memmo
From 6 February to 3 April 2016
Tuesday-Sunday, 11.00 am - 6.00 pmFree entrance
A new exhibition by Fondazione Memmo within the project Conversation piece, dedicated to four young and foreign contemporary artists currently residing in Rome.
The pieces are all inedited and specifically conceived and realised for the rooms of Palazzo Ruspoli stables in via Fontanella Borghese 56b (via del Corso).
The exhibition, curated by Marcello Smarrelli, develops the theme of space and how the artwork can converse with it. The fragile border between art and architecture blurs.
Free workshops for children (3 - 9 y) on March 13 and April 3 (daphne.ilari@gmail.com).
The title of this exhibition reminds us of a film by Luchino Visconti, Gruppo di famiglia in un interno (Conversation piece, 1974), which refers to a particular painting genre, originally developed in the Netherlands, representing a group of people in a domestic setting or engaged in genteel conversation. Indeed, the objective of this event is to create a gentle and quiet atmosphere where the artworks can be approached and known by the public.
The itinerary begins with four (apparently) black paintings by David Schutter, American artist. Of course, they are not just canvases painted black.
There are no colours, and no images as support. Yet, we can glimpse something, we perceive it clearly.
This something is the (dark) shadow of the parlor-scale landscapes by Salvator Rosa and Gaspard Dughet, painters lived in the XVII century, today at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica at Palazzo Corsini in Rome.
Schutter studied the works of the two landscape masters of the XVII century and reproduced them in his studio, without aid memoirs.
The result is something new, which winks at the past repeating the same techniques and attitudes, but in the same time develops a new experience, both physical and symbolic, reinterpreting ancient categories in deeper and more philosophical forms.
Believe me, these are NOT just black canvases.
The installation of the French musician, composer, and researcher Jackson Fourgeaud (1979) takes us in a mysterious space, at least until our eyes get used to the darkness, where sounds and air meld together becoming each other.
The piece, titled Brume Sonore #1, is a sculptural device where mist, music and light embrace the viewer, who is made an integral part of the artwork, also because his/her image is reflected by the mirrors (yes, the one in the photo is me, in the act of taking that picture).
Once inside, you will perceive that the light waves are, or seem to be, converted in sound frequencies, and vice versa.
Jackson calls it Light Metal Music, which is the real essence of his work and the objective of his musical research.
The Swiss artist Kilian Rüthemann (1979) has accustomed us to different languages and materials, freely inspired by Processual Art and Land Art.
The installation consists of four huge walls made of opus latericium, a typical form of brick construction originally used in ancient Rome and still widespread today.
Despite the apparent reference to architecture, in this work bricks are assembled to form four composite units that reminds us of giant pictures, more than simple walls.
The reason is that these non-wall walls are completely drained, deprived of their practical usefulness. Rather, they are created and positioned in the room as conceptual symbols of precariousness and mutability.
Such false walls gently slope towards the floor and bend in the upper side, where they lean on the real walls, thus showing their inherent, unexpected weakness.
A metaphor for human life? Indeed.
The exhibition ends with six intriguing paintings by the Dutch artist Maaike Schoorel (1973).
At first sight almost monochromatic, these works of art reveal unexpected and familiar scenarios if we have the patience to observe them for a while.
Suddenly, we are able to catch sight of a shred of landscape at Villa Pamphili, a human presence bathing in a fountain or walking in the mud, an animal, flowers, a piece of an object, even a tennis court after a storm.
As we may easily understand, Mrs Schoorel is particularly interested in the mechanisms of human perception. It is commonly known that our brain is able to reconstruct things in a complete way even if sensorial information upon which knowledge is based is incomplete and variable, in most cases. Our perception of the world is the brain's best guess at what we are actually seeing, on the basis of any information it receives through the senses. This is the reason why what we see does not always correspond exactly to what we perceive (e.g. optical illusions).
In addition, what we see is affected by how we feel, or what music we may be listening in that specific moment.
Against this background, what can you see in Mrs Schoorel's paintings?
Alessia Paionni
FAMILY-FRIEND EVENT
Free Workshop for children
On the occasion of Conversation piece - Part II, Fondazione Memmo-Arte Contemporanea presents a programme of free workshops for 3-9 year old children that will be held on Sunday March 13 and Sunday April 3.
Reservation required
Languages available: Italian, English, and French.
For further information, please contact Mrs Daphne Ilari (daphne.ilari@gmail.com).