The weeder sculpted by Edmondo Poletti from Novara in 1969, leaning over the fountain recently restored by Assa, is surrounded by plastic flowers and fake green stems. «It is my homage to a great citizen of Novara who was able to give life to a symbolic statue of Novara» declared the artist Corrado Bonomi, inaugurating the open-air exhibition «Culture» in Piazza Garibaldi, in front of the station, on Wednesday afternoon.
Six vases with three flowers inside each of various colors and sizes – the largest reaches three meters in height – made with watering cans, irrigation hoses, saucers, plastic waste materials and will remain lit after sunset. The «Cracking Art» installation promoted by the Solart association will remain on display until July 19th and collects the legacy of the snails that illuminated the autumn and winter of the Novara station between the months of October and February.
«I did not choose plastic at random as an essential element of my work – explained Bonomi -. My intent is to send a message about the complex and certainly not serene relationship between humanity and nature.” The flowers scattered on the three green areas of Piazza Garibaldi, said the artist, are elements that are linked to the world of gardening: «It represents the care we have for the environment in our own small way, but at the same time I also raise an alarm ‘massive and excessive use of plastic and the need to do something to intervene to defend our planet.” The double message reflects Bonomi’s art, which draws on ironic conceptualism. It is no coincidence, in fact, that the inauguration of the works of art falls 48 hours after World Earth Day.
«The idea we have as an administration is to make this square an open-air contemporary art exhibition – declared Novara’s culture councilor Luca Piantanida -. These flowers, after the previous installation in recent months, are excellent starting points towards a future dedicated to the valorisation of artists in synergy with the activity of raising awareness and combating urban decay”. The hope, as with the snails, is that Bonomi’s flowers will also lead commuters, tourists and citizens to take selfies among the works and appreciate both their beauty and their meaning. Another aesthetic element that imposes itself between Piazza Garibaldi and the area around the station, often places of violent episodes and awaiting structural recovery interventions on the sidewalks, in the underpass and in Viale Leonardo Da Vinci.
