Galleria Fumagalli

presents

Mattia Bosco, Jannis Kounellis, Maria Elisabetta Novello

CONCRETEZZA DELL’ESSENZIALITA’

Curated Lóránd Hegyi

17 February – 29 April 2022

For the fourth exhibition in the series “MY30YEARS – Coherency in Diversity”, art critic and historian Lóránd Hegyi invited artists Maria Elisabetta Novello (Vicenza, 1974) and Mattia Bosco (Milan, 1976) to present new works, specifically conceived for Galleria Fumagalli. “Concretezza dell’essenzialità” offers an interplay between them and an imposing installation by master Jannis Kounellis (Piraeus, Greece, 1936 – Rome, 2017).

Lóránd Hegyi explains the theme of this exhibition: «One of the most significant elements of the work of art might be its capacity of suggesting some essential experiences. This evocative competence enables it to reveal fundamental, determinant realities which will be specifically concretized and articulated in each singular oeuvre. The concreteness of the singular phenomenon with its sensual qualities and dramaturgical organization transmits the artist’s vision on essentiality. In Jannis Kounellis’ work, the concentration on the very moment of determinant changes and on the transformation of the status of things is based on the radical intensification of material concreteness. Maria Elisabetta Novello is operating with a hyper sensitive, extremely soft and fragile presence of materials which suggests subtle connections between physical and metaphysical levels. Instead of anecdotal descriptions, she is searching for essential realities. In Mattia Bosco’s work, the concreteness of the immediate material realities involves a potential intelligible system which integrates different levels of perception and offers a certain free imaginary. The interpretation of the concreteness originates from a fine synthesis of rationality and emotionality.»

The essentiality – manifested primarily by the elements that constitute the works – is conveyed by the exhibition layout itself: three installations on three walls of the gallery’s main room. While not intending to impose any forced connections between the artists, all the works show a strong presence of the material, yet balanced by the sense of lightness given by the fragmentary characteristic of their elements.

At first glance, the installation by Jannis Kounellis stands out because of its monumental structure made of sixty-three iron scales on which Murano glass blocks are placed. However, the thin metal framework gives a certain lightness to the whole and, by analogy, a musicality evoked by the shape of the scales themselves, similar to the musical triangle. Lightness is also the main feature of Maria Elisabetta Novello‘s installation. She uses ash: the tangible residue of things and an ancestral symbol of death and rebirth at the same time. As the title of the work “Angolo di riposo” suggests (from the scientific term that describes the maximum angle that a certain amount of granular material can hold to remain stable), the material apparently rests calm, yet unstable. The work of Mattia Bosco completes the essential layout of the exhibition. The raw stone, carefully selected and carved by the artist, is presented fragmented and therefore unstable. As if it were an ancient archeological find disintegrated by time, the work seems to be imbued with a latent tension towards the reconstitution of the whole, albeit destined to eternal immobility.

The program “MY30YEARS – Coherency in Diversity” devised and curated in 2021 by Lóránd Hegyi to pay homage to the thirty-year career of gallery owner Annamaria Maggi, continues until 2023 involving 12 artists followed or represented by Galleria Fumagalli. For each of the 8 exhibitions, the works of 3 artists coming from different artistic contexts are put in dialogue on specific themes. Avoiding any conceptual imposition, this exhibition program intends to highlight some common trends in contemporary art and to suggest new possible readings.