with Gianni Lucchesi, edited by Nicolas Ballario
INSIDE THE EXHIBITION
The Valdarno Museum System presents to the public an exhibition spread throughout the territory curated by Nicolas Ballario; an unprecedented narrative conceived as a pathway among the museums of the Arno Valley featuring important international artists, including Gianni Lucchesi.
Together with him, artists such as Michelangelo Pistoletto, Valeria Berruti, Leandro Erlich, and Sofia Uslenghi were invited to reflect on the themes of the museum and the limit, whether understood as protection or constraint.
The idea is to investigate the very concept of the museum: like a universal home, like a gilded cage, the museum circumscribes time and space; it suspends objects in another dimension; it explores the ambiguities of a boundary that is both protection and limit. It is precisely within the confines of the museum that it is possible to overcome all barriers: the work of art – divergent, if not subversive – offers itself as a viaticum to escape from the constructions and constraints of man, as a passe-partout to get out of the imprisonments of thought by grasping the vertigo of an open, profound, surprising vision, capable of unhinging every scheme, mesh, structure or superstructure.
Works by Gianni Lucchesi on display at the exhibition spread across Valdarno
THE MUSEUM: HOME OR PRISON?
In the context of this dialectic, the museum, its collections and its exhibitions – of which this one is intended to be a significant example – stand as places in which to investigate the meaning of our being-in-the-world. In this exhibition, artists from different backgrounds, generations and fields question the house as an archetype, but also as a metaphor for our mind.
Home or prison? The title of this exhibition refers to Maurizio Cattelan’s poster with a gun and the phrase “Rebel – the only prison is your mind,” which was censored in Milan. Cattelan confronted us with a question: why does that gun outrage us, when now the daily images of violence and death in the world no longer do? Every day we see extremely violent photographs and videos, but we are used to it. We are addicted to it. The artists in the exhibition, therefore, tell us precisely about the museum as home: a place we experience every day, but are no longer aware of. Those exhibition spaces perhaps we should not take for granted.
The official opening took place on Saturday, November 30, 2024 at 4:30 p.m., at Casa Masaccio Center for Contemporary Art in San Giovanni Valdarno, kicking off an event that aims to leave a deep mark on Valdarno culture and beyond.
MUSEUMS AND ARTISTS
A journey between art and territory. The widespread exhibition represents a unique opportunity to discover Valdarno through an artistic journey involving: – the Museo delle Terre Nuove, Casa Masaccio Center for Contemporary Art, the Museum of the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in San Giovanni Valdarno, – the Paleontological Museum and the Cassero for Italian Sculpture in Montevarchi, – the Venturino Venturi Museum in Loro Ciuffenna, – the Mine Museum, dedicated to mining memory, in Cavriglia.
Works by Gianni Lucchesi on display at the exhibition spread across Valdarno
Each venue will host works and installations that dialogue with the museum spaces and the local context, creating a web of connections between past and present, tradition and contemporaneity.
– Valerio Berruti will bring to the Museo delle Terre Nuove the installation Shine, a poetic reflection on childhood and its vulnerability. – Leandro Erlich, celebrated for his works that challenge perception, will present Cloud at the Museo della Basilica, a visual and symbolic dialogue with Beato Angelico’s Annunciation. – At Casa Masaccio, photographs by Sofia Uslenghi and Gabriele Basilico will explore the relationship between urban space and personal identity. – At Cassero per la Scultura Italiana, works by Vedovamazzei and Gianni Lucchesi will offer insights into the ambivalence between refuge and constraint, through materials and forms that evoke protection and fragility. – At the Venturino Venturi Museum in Loro Ciuffenna, Oliviero Toscani’s photographs will intertwine with Alberto Agosti’s creations, creating a dialogue between image and word. – In Cavriglia, the Mine Museum will become the stage for an open-air exhibition, with Michelangelo Pistoletto’s posters invading the streets of the village, transforming the town into a living museum.
An experience designed for everyone
The project aims to be inclusive and accessible. While Casa Masaccio and the installations at Cavriglia will offer free admission, the other museums will provide a reduced ticket for those visiting multiple venues. Those who complete the entire art tour will receive a special memento, a symbolic gift that celebrates the encounter between art and community. In addition, the public will be involved in guided tours, workshops and meetings with the artists, designed to bring adults and children closer to the language of contemporary art.
For futher information: https://www.comune.montevarchi.ar.it/eventi/3163662/tua-mente-casa-prigione
