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KALPA presents a refined selection of art in the Pavillion, the new modernist-influenced architectural gem by Vincent Van Duysen in Molteni&C Compound in Giussano (Brianza), which can be visited by appointment until May 2024.

Artworks by Yoshimi Futamura (Japan/France), Federico Gori (Italy) and Marc Ricourt (France) are reunited in the project PERENNI and sharply integrated within the design of the Pavilion to create a harmonious array of ceramic sculptures, intricate engravings on copper, and sculpted wood vessels inviting reveries and contemplation. In virtue of the critical urgency of reconsidering Nature as man's first home, the exhibit revolves conceptually around the ideas of the multiplication and metamorphosis of forms and materials as well as on the key role of plants as witnesses of history and vehicles of universal messages.

According to an all-around holistic vision of space that considers the environment, the human and the architectural, PERENNI invites the visitor across an organic visual journey where the languages of art and craft suffuse the spirit of architecture. The Pavilion has been designed to encompass a fluid connection between the courtyard and the interior space, as the ecosystem of Futamura’s, Gori’s and Ricourt’s research embraces the complexities of the natural realms, bringing indoors their spirit, forms and energies via timeless works of art.

Organic forms, deep colours, fluidity of lines, nature-like textures: the sculpture by French wood-turner and Loewe Craft Prize finalist Marc Ricourt distinguishes itself for the mastery of his technique, the pronounced edges of his vessels, and the overall feelings of strength and passion rising from his series. In his works, there is no attempt to hide the tool marks. The roughness belies the control required to make such consistent cuts, emphasizing the aesthetic balance between shape, colour and texture.

For PERENNI, Ricourt presents three sculpted wood objects in beech and walnut from his iconic series Scorched and Rust: the warm sunlight entering the space of the Pavilion from the large windows adds a poetic inflection to these pieces, which are originally worked in such a way to appear as something else. In the case of the Rust series, for example, the artist applies ferrous oxide to the piece's surface, providing the wood with visual and tactile qualities of materials like corten.

Informed by the Japanese cultural heritage of ceramics - the yakimono, Yoshimi Futamura brings this traditional art right to the center of international art debate, working with many languages, from utility wares to aesthetically pleasing sculptures. Each of her objects perfectly balances Oriental and Occidental approaches to the art while comprising a work that honours the spirit of the art living and reveals both power and spirituality inherent within her medium. On the occasion of PERENNI, the artist introduces two pieces from the series Black Hole and functional Vases that can be found in the cloister-like courtyard of the Pavilion and one of the interior areas of the compound, inviting visitors to discover the path of tactile imagination and a profound connection with the object itself.

Italian artist Federico Gori researches specific themes related to the multiplication and metamorphosis of forms and materials, the perpetual movement of time, and the critical urgency of man’s reconciliation with the natural world. His artistic vision links to the core of the project, with the integration of two artworks respectively from the series Perenne and Patterns, consisting of etchings and natural oxidations on sheets of copper. While the densely patterned wall installation Perenne 05 bears the imprint of the cross-section of a tree trunk, the unique second work Pattern 01 displays the trace of a root, both encapsulating the secret code of nature. Being a highly mutable element, copper oxidises and changes its composition and appearance, giving these artworks the status of living art pieces in continuous evolution moving across space and time.



Location and time

Molteni&C headquarters, Giussano (MB) November 2023 - May 2024


Visiting

By appointment only


Photo by Daniel Civetta for KALPA












TIMELESS ENCOUNTERS | Chapter II, PROPHETIA

The three-year project Timeless Encounters curated by KALPA galleries and Guarnacci Etruscan Museum returns to Volterra: Etruscan and contemporary art live in Federico Gori's new site-specific installation.


New interweavings between contemporary and ancient art spring to life among the textures of the medieval architecture of Volterra's Palazzo dei Priori. From July 17 to September 15, 2023, the second edition of Timeless Encounters | Etruscan and Contemporary Art, the three-year exhibition project created by Anima Silvae association and Museo Etrusco Guarnacci in collaboration with KALPA Galleries returns. For this new edition, entitled PROPHETIA, Pistoiese artist Federico Gori (Prato, 1977) creates a site-specific installation connecting his work of etching and naturally oxidised copper with a selection of Etruscan artefacts from the Museum's collection. As the title implies, PROPHETIA embodies a contemporary prophecy, bringing to life a ritual of catharsis within differing temporal and spatial planes, the micro and macro. The work relates to the Etruscan partition of the sky into four macro sectors, each in turn divided into as many four, each corresponding to a different deity of the pantheon. To emphasize the interconnection between all the cosmic elements of the universe, within each of the sixteen elements, Gori imprints the map of the sky in copper corresponding to the date of July 17, 2023 in addition to natural and symbolic forms referring to the Etruscan cult of divination and the burial of the dead, like feathers of different waterfowls and asphodels (the flowers of spontaneous birth in necropolis sites and since antiquity symbolically linked to the afterlife). Gori's individual works are placed on corresponding architectural structures treated with MATTEOBRIONI natural pigment, whose rust-colour enhances the spatial continuum between the ancient terracotta of the floor, the cangiante red of the copper, to the sand and terracotta of the Etruscan artefacts. These last elements are resting directly upon each work: terracotta and alabaster fragments from ancient times of faces and bodies - now drawn and now sculpted - dialoguing closely with the copper of the installation. Through contact with different materials, copper oxidises and changes its composition and appearance, giving the exhibition the status of a living work of art that is constantly evolving. PROPHETIA develops from the core of Gori's research and poetics, which focuses on the concepts of time and metamorphosis, the encounter with different temporal planes, and the impossibility of man to dominate time and matter, so often elusive to all human logic. This is an artistic investigation aimed at encapsulating the secret code and signs of nature, its biodiversity and evolutionary path. Curated by Eleonora Raspi, PROPHETIA was created as part of the three-year Timeless Encounters 2022-2024 project, promoted by Anima Silvae Cultural Association and Museo Etrusco Guarnacci, and made possible by the coordination and support of KALPA; the technical sponsorship of MATTEOBRIONI srl; the support of Altair Chimica; and the contribution of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Volterra. The exhibit is under the patronage of the City of Volterra and Tuscany Region.


Exhibition location and dates Sala del Giudice Conciliatore, Palazzo dei Priori (Volterra, Toscana) 17 July - 15 September 2023 10 am - 7 pm, every day, free entrance Exhibition organisation and curation Organised by Associazione Anima Silvae, KALPA Art Living and Museo Etrusco Guarnacci Artistic curatorship and texts by Eleonora Raspi for KALPA Scientific curatorship by Fabrizio Burchianti, Museo Etrusco Guarnacci Exhibition partners and sponsors Technical sponsorship of MATTEOBRIONI srl Support of Altair Chimica (Saline di Volterra) Contribution of Fondazione Cassa Risparmio di Volterra Patronage of Comune di Volterra and Regione Toscana Collezione Museo Etrusco Guarnacci Founded in the mid-1700s thanks to a donation from the noble abbot Mario Guarnacci, the Museum is one of the oldest and most important Etruscan museums in Italy. The core of the archeological collection is in the order of 600 Etruscan funerary urns. The production of these objects grew in Volterra between the 4th and 1st centuries BCE using various materials: notably terracotta, stone and alabaster. The most significant urns are made of alabaster, a material that was both easy to shape and suitable for painting. Federico Gori Developing a strong interest in abstract comb-sign art at the beginning of his career, Federico Gori (Prato, 1977) aims to capture the secret code and signs of Nature, across its biodiversity and evolutionary journey. Many of Gori's polyptychs hold repeated patterns, displaying a highly symbolic minimal landscape of the memories of fossils, extinct plants, and contemporary nature. Throughout his career, Gori has participated in numerous national and international projects and exhibitions in Italy, the UK and Japan. His most recent solo exhibitions include the Golden Age at the Archaeological Museum of Taranto and Estinti. Il gelo e la luce at Fattoria di Celle in 2022; also in the same year, he participated in the group exhibitions Coltivare l'arte at Isola Bisentina and Collezioni del Novecento at Pistoia Musei. In 2019, the project Earthrise in collaboration with the neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso at the Museo Palazzo Fabroni Arti Visive Contemporanee, Pistoia.


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Fra gennaio e marzo 2023 torna ’900 Talks, il programma di approfondimenti dedicato ai linguaggi dell’arte del XX e XXI secolo. Ispirandosi alle opere e agli artisti presenti nel percorso stabile Collezioni del Novecento a Palazzo de’ Rossi, le tre conversazioni previste propongono temi di confronto artistico e sociale e vedono la partecipazione di critici e artisti in dialogo con Monica Preti e Annamaria Iacuzzi, rispettivamente direttrice scientifica di Pistoia Musei e conservatrice per le Collezioni del Novecento di Pistoia Musei.

La rassegna è inoltre arricchita dalla presentazione di volumi inediti e da piccole esposizioni temporanee.


Giovedì 9 marzo Reperto e metamorfosi

Conversazione con Eva Degl’Innocenti, direttrice del Settore Musei Civici, Bologna Lorenzo Madaro, docente di Storia dell’arte contemporanea, Accademia di belle arti di Brera, Milano; curatore Federico Gori, artista

Al centro del lavoro di Federico Gori è il tempo inteso come durata: con la sua circolarità nel ripetersi costante ma con scarti di differenza, esso interviene nella mutazione degli elementi naturali che costituiscono da sempre il linguaggio dell’artista. Nell’opera L’età dell’oro, vincitrice del PAC 2020 per il Museo Archeologico di Taranto, l’esuvia del serpente si carica di un valore simbolico profondo, che, anche grazie al dialogo con i reperti antichi del museo, presagisce la strada per una mutazione corale, per una rinascita plurale. Nell’occasione presentazione dell’opera di Federico Gori, L’età dell’oro (la muta), progetto del MArTA, vincitore del bando PAC (Piano per l’Arte Contemporanea) del Ministero della Cultura 2020. Dal 9 marzo al 10 aprile, nella sala Scenari possibili di Collezioni del Novecento, saranno allestite alcune opere della serie in progress, La muta (2023), di Federico Gori.



Photo credits: Lorenzo Marianeschi





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