Among the exhibitions that have certainly marked Art City 2024, in Bologna, we find It rains, it snows, it paints, a project curated by the Parsec collective, and supported by Fondazione Zucchelli, which renews its mission of supporting/promoting young talents from the Bologna Academy of Fine Arts. The exhibition project was divided into two sections. A part inside Arte Fiera, pavilion 26, which hosted the works of the young talents of the Academy who won the prizes of the 2023 Zucchelli Competition and the 2023 Art Up Prize, promoted by Fondazione Zucchelli on the occasion of Opentour, with the support of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio Bologna, Banca di Bologna and Collezione Falconi Leidi, who have acquired the winning works in their collections.
Camilla Carroli, “Testa mozzata di mamma di pipistrello Lilla”, 2023, materiale di recupero, opera esposta presso Zu.Art. Ph Martina Platone, courtesy Parsec e Fondazione Zucchelli
As part of the Zucchelli 2023 Competition, we found the works of Gianlorenzo Nardi (Talent Award), Riccardo Bellelli (Alchemilla Artist Residency Award at Palazzo Vizzani) and Camilla Carroli (Special Mention), while representing Art Up 2023 the works of Anna Tappari (Collectors’ Prize, financed by the Carisbo Foundation Collection), Giuseppe Francalanza (Critics’ Prize, financed by the Banca di Bologna Collection), Nicola Galli (Artists’ Prize, financed by the Falcone Leidi Collection of Bergamo) were exhibited and Majid Bita (Graphic/Illustration Award, financed by the Carisbo Foundation Collection). The other part of the project (which is still visible) was placed at Zu.Art garden of the arts of Fondazione Zucchelli, an exhibition that features the works of all the Zucchelli 2023 award-winning authors, organized as part of ART CITY Bologna 2024, in which the Foundation has participated since 2014. On display, all the winners of the Zucchelli 2023 Competition (again Gianlorenzo Nardi, Riccardo Bellelli and Camilla Carroli with Carlotta Amanzi, Federico Grilli and Tommaso Palmieri) and of Art Up 2023, with the works of Anna Tappari, Giuseppe Francalanza, Nicola Galli and Majid Bita. The exhibition will continue until 25 July with the aim of being included in the programming of Bologna Estate (in which the Zucchelli Foundation has participated since 2016).
Nicola Galli, “L’appartamento”, 2023, video, 4’10’’, still video, opera esposta presso Zu.Art. Ph Martina Platone, courtesy Parsec e Fondazione Zucchelli
Upon my arrival at the garden I find the Parsec team ready to welcome me, and the fusion between the location and the works is extraordinary, as is the entire artistic project underlying the selection. In fact, the title It rains, it snows, it paints is taken from a famous statement by the French artist Daniel Buren, indicating that, as it happens with atmospheric agents, it is the work that manifests itself to the world in a process of which the human being is a witness. Photography, video, sculpture, painting and performance: the works that have been selected show us the plurality of contemporary artistic languages. Starting from the different cultural context of hyperproduction of objects and images, Parsec proposes a narrative in which the spontaneous relationships that arise between the works, the environment and the public speak. «Different practices and different aesthetics, the only approach to the works we could have was that of speculative realism» is the explanation given. Citing the project The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things by the English artist Mark Leckey, the staging of both events intends to suggest the existence of a network of interconnected objects thanks to which reality can be observed by overcoming the centrality of language and, therefore of the human being.
Gianlorenzo Nardi, “Untitled (dedicato al suono di un flauto)”, 2023, vela in dacron, cassette retate, opera esposta presso Zu.Art. Ph Martina Platone, courtesy Parsec e Fondazione Zucchelli
The tour starts with photography: three works by Tommaso Palmieri extrapolated from the (BO)yz in the Hood project, bring the representation of the Bolognese punk and rap subculture into the exhibition. The photos, clearly in black and white, show us with extreme force an extremely important soul of the city. A strong union between past and present and, who knows, hopefully also the future. Continuing, it is impossible not to recognize them, three works by Camilla Carroli: Severed head of a baby unicorn, Severed head of a lilac bat mother, Bilingual Cobra and Marta the alien. For those who don’t know the artist, Camilla usually works with discarded and rejected objects, giving them a new life. In this circumstance we find ourselves in front of some of the animals that are part of the fantastic world created by Camilla in recent years. Nicola Galli, however, welcomes me with a video, The Apartment. A hug, a dance, but also violence. None of us can really know what happens within the home of many of us. A touching and necessarily disturbing theme, it forces us to think.
Giuseppe Francalanza, “Sutura”, 2022 tecnica mista su tela, opera esposta presso Zu.Art. Ph Martina Platone, courtesy l’artista e VIN VIN Vienna / Napoli, Parsec e Fondazione Zucchelli
Another video occupies the adjacent room, it is Untitled by Gianlorenzo Nardi. Here videos and recycled materials collected by the artist merge into a video-architecture. A flight, a poem, dedicated to the sound of a flute. Nature and man, change and static nature. Pen and ink cannot be missing and so here we are with two works by Majid Bita, which break up the surrounding video scenario. Known to most for his comic book “Born in Iran”, he attacks here with two irreverent works such as Harem and The Company of Difficult Days. Giuseppe Francalanza with Sutura presents us, however, with a mixed technique on canvas. A dialogue that intersects greatly in terms of stylistic identity, as well as in perfect dialogue with the delicacy of the work presented by Carlotta Amanzi: Oasi. Shadows that often seem like fogs, erasures and loss of contours or, perhaps, in reality it is the complete opposite of what we are looking at. Ultimately, this is exactly what art wants to convey to us: disorientation and emotion.
Federico Grilli, “Alloglotto”, 2023, legno, tubi alluminio, cera in armatura di gesso e ferro, opera esposta presso Zu.Art. Ph Martina Platone, courtesy Parsec e Fondazione Zucchelli
Riccardo Belelli, with Combo Perfetta, dialogues with the room and the other works, aligning himself almost spontaneously with Camilla’s works, reasoning on recycling and the concept of new life. In this case we can admire how Riccardo tends in every way not to force his work into something stable and pre-constructed, but to be characterized by something multiple and liquid. Federico Grilli with his majestic Alloglotto shows us, in this case, how a marginal object can mean everything and more. A katana holder that takes on another meaning to become the true subject of the scene. A change of perspective and also of matter! A recommended tour, since you have until July!
Info:
AA.VV., It rains, it snows, it paints
a cura di Parsec
05/02 – 25/07/2024
from Monday to Friday 9.00-12.00 or by appointment by writing to: eventi.fondazionezucchelli@gmail.com
Zu.Art giardino delle arti
vicolo Malgrado 3/2, Bologna
www.fondazionezucchelli.it
She was born in Genoa but currently lives in Bologna, the city where she graduated from CITEM with a thesis on video art. She works in the world of events in the production sector and is an assistant professor of Visual Studies at UNIBO.
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