“Nicturia”, a solo exhibition by Beatrice Gelmetti at the 10&zero uno gallery in Venice, curated by Chiara Boscolo and with a text by Francesco Liggieri, can be visited until 28 October 2023. Nicturia is that natural condition that consists in having a frequent urge to urinate during the night hours and that inevitably leads to the interruption of sleep. It is the stage between wakefulness and sleep that interests the artist, that moment of passage that was considered by the Surrealists, in particular by Salvador Dali, as the most revealing, since he believed that in that instant images manifested themselves to his eyes that he would later use for the composition of his works.
Beatrice Gelmetti, Nicturia, exhibition view, ph Filippo Molena, courtesy 10 & zero uno
In the work ‘Little Noah’, Beatrice Gelmetti visually describes Nicturia and reveals how many images can peep into our minds when we enter a borderline state between the rationality, that determines and regulates the real world, and the irrationality that constructs our dreams. As in the works in the gallery, in these moments our mind mixes real physical sensations, such as the need to go to the bathroom during the night, and dreamlike visions from our unconscious: shapes, lights and colours mix relentlessly to leave us disoriented and dazed. In the canvases on show, the artist makes us experience this sensation again, and with great technical skill she tells us stories and dreams by mixing real elements that describe her everyday life and imaginative elements from her dream world.
Beatrice Gelmetti, Nicturia, exhibition view, ph Filippo Molena, courtesy 10 & zero uno
Time and space interrupt and merge in the works on display and the artist catapults us into a surreal world where there is no clear distinction between before and after. Time and space dilate and we are not given to know the order in which things happen, everything happens in the same prolonged instant and in the same place. Each brushstroke on the canvas moves, so to speak, freely, with a progression that makes us realize that it is subject to nothing, to no dynamic laws, no gravity: the colours go where they go, expressing an original condition of motion that is its own and only present in the dreamlike dimension.
Beatrice Gelmetti, Nicturia, exhibition view, ph Filippo Molena, courtesy 10 & zero uno
Unlike the great surrealist master, Beatrice Gelmetti does not show us these moments in a clear way, she does not present us with a photograph, but on the contrary presents an abstract work, inviting the observer to stop in front of the canvas to look for the elements that compose it. The brushstrokes are fresh, decisive and seemingly random, in reality they are the result of a careful study of codes and signs that aim to create an abstract language that speaks to the sensitivity and feeling of the observer. Painting is nothing but a continuous grasping and feeling through the involvement of all the senses, and abstractionism is certainly the best language to express and listen to them.
Beatrice Gelmetti, Nicturia, exhibition view, ph Filippo Molena, courtesy 10 & zero uno
The images that we find within her works are superimposed and mixed with materials, shapes and bright colours that create a visual code that does not reveal itself at first glance but requires time. While society demands tighter, faster, more and more frenetic and almost unbearable work rhythms, the artist suggests to the observer to allow himself/herself moments of pause to stop, contemplate and understand. The work absorbs us inside, requires attention and strongly dilated times, it is certainly not a painting to be viewed on social networks where the average user is willing to allow no more than a few seconds per content.
Info:
Beatrice Gelmetti. Nicturia
08.09.2023-28.10.2023
10 & zero uno
Castello, 1830, via Garibaldi, Venezia
www.10zerouno.com
Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, she subsequently attended the School for Curatorial Studies in Venice. She writes about contemporary art with a particular eye towards emerging artists and experimental research projects.
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