OSPEDALETTO CON/temporaneo
curated by VeNews C563 Arts
Venezia, Barbaria de le Tole
11 May 2019 – 24 November 2019
Complesso dell’Ospedaletto becomes a place dedicated to contemporary art thanks to a project in which the pieces create a fruitful dialogue with their surroundings. They are not just single works of art, but narrative experiments, temporary scenography and thematic spaces: actual “art rooms” that have been built according to the personal sensitivity of the involved interlocutors, the Pavilion of the Republic of San Marino, OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni Torino, Fabrica, Marignana Arte e Sarah Revoltella.
The national participation of the Republic of San Marino takes place in the Church of Santa Maria dei Derelitti, the modern foyer, Sala Leoncini and the garden through Friendship Project International, a platform that San Marino has been promoting since 2015 in order to create a place for national and international artists to meet and discuss. In this internationalization project, dialogue and exchange are the key elements of a manifold exhibition where languages and cultures blend together in a unique context that can intersect and influence them, as well as being a source of new energy. Vito Giuseppe Testaj is the commissioner, Vincenzo Sanfo is the curator, and the exhibiting artists are Gisella Battistini, Martina Conti, Gabriele Gambuti, Giovanna Fra, Thea Tini, Chen Chengwei, Li Geng, Dario Ortiz Tang Shuangning, Jens W. Beyrich, Xing Junqin, Xu De Qi, Sebástian.
On the first floor, Sala della Musica houses Carousel de Crystal by Pablo Bronstein, curated by Catherine Wood and purposely created for OGR, Officine Grandi Riparazioni Torino. The installation reproduces the bedroom of a 17th century king – which was only apparently a private place and actually the centre of life at court – where the presence of two dancers is multiplied through the use of a video projection that reveals the artist’s point of view.
Beside Sala della Musica, the Farmacia spaces house the collective exhibition Reagents, curated by Daniele Capra and sustained by Marignana Arte. The group of eight artists is composed by Arthur Duff, Serena Fineschi, Silvia Infranco, Túlio Pinto, Fabrizio Prevedello, Quayola, Verónica Vázquez e Marco Maria Zanin. Their work is characterized by a great sensitivity and responsiveness to spatial context and the action-reaction dynamics triggered by environmental elements. The exhibition highlights the reading of the artists’ works as generated through a process of opposition to the stimuli and pressure of the context.
Along the portico, on the first floor, there is Stelle e Conflitti, a large-dimension tapestry-piece by Sarah Revoltella, created in collaboration with Sardinian weaver from Nule, curated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio. By overlapping the NASA map of black holes and a map of the Earth, a surprising match between the line of black holes and the ongoing wars on our planet is discovered. The artist wants to counter the negative energy of conflicts through the positive strength of human work and cooperation.
In the space of Scala del Sardi, Marignana Arte places the installation Bodies Without Points of View by Arthur Duff, curated by Daniele Capra. Relating to the elliptic shape of the stairs, Duff created an essential and incisive site-specific piece that unifies light and sculpture and draws the visitors’ attention to the verticality of the stairs.
On the ground floor, Cortile delle Quattro Stagioni is occupied by Fabrica, an established centre of research and development in all fields of contemporary art. Wanted Creativity fills the garden with a series of portraits taken by Oliviero Toscani, Settimio Benedusi and the team of Fabrica in sets all around the world.
Complesso dell’Ospedaletto, Barbaria de le Tole, Castello 6691
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00 – 18.00; closed on Monday
