VENICE – Daniele D’Agostino, street artist from Messina, returns with his works to Venice, precisely during the Biennale (in which he participated last year). And he does it within the “Wernice” project, where there are two exhibition spaces: one in the heart of the city, in Campo del Ghetto Vecchio, and the other in the Cannaregio district, on the north-west side of the lagoon. Wernicewhich is part of the “Imagoars” association, has been promoting artists for years, focusing on the “graffiti” universe.
The spaces, explains the association, “will be available for 4 months as laboratories for the creation of the works on display and will subsequently host an exhibition lasting 2 months”. The objective is to stimulate artistic comparison by adopting a uniform format for all the works on display, i.e. the 70X70 square canvas. The opening to the public was on Saturday 20 April, with the site-specific collective exhibition featuring the works of around 50 writers. Among them, also Daniele D’Agostino.
D’Agostino: “Wonderful experience”
The man from Messina, when telling it, is emotional: “Stupendous, much more beautiful and educational on a human level than having participated in the Biennale last year. Time is clearly giving me answers. Until three years ago I didn’t make paintings, all my work was outdoors, connected to urban reality. Underground and free. The invitation to participate in this exhibition was a further confirmation of my roots, and of my love for an art free from exploitation. Far from the opportunistic and instrumental logic of street art, which unfortunately has its pros and cons like everything else.”
The attack on the Biennale
And he concluded: “This exhibition was born from the need to have an accessible space, outside the elitist nature of the Biennale, a privatized space now saturated with contradictions or formalities. Formalities that we saw right up to the end, with the non-opening of the Israel pavilion, a scandalous instrumental political victimization on the part of the Israelis. The art in this exhibition, however, has a message of humanity, community. A sign of peace, culture and beauty typical of the values of the hip hop culture to which we belong.”
