Narni, a November that can’t decide whether to embrace the harshness of winter or give in to the last warmth of autumn. In the midst of these seasonal uncertainties, a small space in the Umbrian suburbs turns into a crossroads of emotions, symbols and reflections. THEPÒSITO Art Space hosts the solo exhibition of Chiara Ventura, a young artist who, despite her twenty-seven years, already seems capable of dialoguing with the complexities of existence and the deafening silence that often accompanies them. “Even When I’m Not Here” is the title of the exhibition and, from the very first moments, it is clear that it will not be an accommodating experience. Curated by Lorenzo Rubini, the exhibition is part of the “RIGENERARSI” program, promoted by the Municipality of Narni, and invites the public on a journey through interrupted relationships and languages. A reflection on voids, on spaces where words fail and the body becomes the protagonist of a fragile, often ambiguous dialogue.
Chiara Ventura, “Even When I’m Not Here”, installation view at Thepòsito Art Space, ph Tanita Gennari
The exhibition opens with “Quello che provo a dirti (What I’m trying to tell you)” (2023), a work that stages a paradox. An image printed on glossy paper is trapped in a vacuum bag, a transparent prison that amplifies the distance between the audience and the meaning. Inside, a portion of water flows, but it is unrecognizable, edited until it loses shape and meaning. It is the language that jams, transforms into an impossible code, leaving behind an echo of incommunicability. Ventura, through this work, reveals the heart of her poetics: the gap between what we feel and what we are able to express. The title itself, with that “provo/try”, oscillates between the desperate attempt to say and pure feeling. There is no room for eloquence here, only silence and the body as the last expressive bastion. Later, the video performance “A mare” (2023) projects the image of two bodies that merge and separate like waves after love. The sea becomes a metaphor for an intimate exchange, where giving and receiving alternate in a rhythm that is both natural and mysterious. Water, once again, returns as a symbol: a fluid that brings people together, but can also divide.
Chiara Ventura, “A mare”, 2023, video still, courtesy the artist and Thepòsito Art Space
And then there are the clothes of the performance, re-proposed as an autonomous work in “A mare te”. The clothes, imbued with memories and gestures, tell silent stories. Every fold is a chapter, every trace a memory. Here, Ventura amplifies the reflection on the body, shifting it to the objects that surround us, witnesses of what we have been. The fulcrum of the exhibition, however, is the work that gives the show its title. “Even When I’m Not Here” (2024) captures an intimate moment: the artist’s partner, lying on a bed after making love. But the photograph is kept in a blue bag, emptied of its original function of containing water. Here too, absence becomes the protagonist: the vital liquid is gone, but the “sea” of blankets takes over. The words written on the bag – “even when I’m not here” – evoke the tension between presence and absence, between the need to be there and the ability to leave one’s mark, even from a distance. The narration of the work, incomplete compared to the original performance entitled “Apnea”, leaves the spectator with the task of filling the void, of imagining a conclusion.
Chiara Ventura, “Even When I’m Not Here”, installation view at Thepòsito Art Space, ph Tanita Gennari
“Even When I’m Not Here” is not just an exhibition, but a manifesto of a generation that struggles to tell each other everything, despite the overabundance of means of communication. Ventura shows us a world where digital language accelerates contacts but fragments emotions, where words, instead of bringing people together, become barriers. In a hyper-connected era, the artist invites us to rediscover the value of silence, of the gaze and of the gesture. Her works are an invitation to slow down, to reflect on interpersonal dynamics with a critical eye, but never devoid of empathy. Chiara Ventura takes the public to a threshold: between presence and absence, said and unsaid. Her works, balanced between biography and concept, offer an intimate and political reading of contemporary relationships. Leaving THEPÒSITO, one has the sensation of having crossed an internal sea. A sea that never stops speaking, even when it seems to be silent.
Info:
Chiara Ventura. Even When I’m Not Here
09/11/2024 – 12/01/2025
Thepòsito Art Space
Via del Parco 1 – Narni (TR)
www.theposito.com
Independent artist and curator. Founder of No Title Gallery in 2011. I observe, study, ask questions, take informations and live in contemporary art, a real stimulus for my research.
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