Nature has the ability to improve man’s state of mind by arousing in us a profound sense of well-being. The Paradisìaca exhibition, recently inaugurated at the SACCA Gallery in Modica, is the meeting between nature and the therapeutic power of art. In this way, the curator Giovanni Scucces wanted to bring to the public’s attention a very current theme such as the environmental and ecological one, seen through the beauty that nature is able to give us rather than the unpleasant facts that often we are the cause. In art the relationship between man and nature is lost in the mists of time. It is something visceral that man has always tried to depict and celebrate in various ways. This exhibition tries to provide a cross-section of it, focusing attention above all on the connection with the flora in order to recall the idea of a primordial garden.
The works of seven contemporary Italian artists are on display. Below we briefly know who they are.
Daniela Balsamo (Palermo, 1970) is part of the SACS, Help Desk for Contemporary Art in Sicily and in January last year she held a solo exhibition at the Riso Museum in Palermo. Several important collective and personal exhibitions have been hosted around Italy and Sicily. She, the artist, creates surreal scenarios in which visual short circuits occur between nature and anthropic environments. Her works consist of views, of environments or interiors, often characterized by the co-presence of animal and plant species together with retro, often sumptuous, furnishing objects. The latter give us demonstration of the presence of man despite his absence. Her works have an alienating effect on the spectator who thus finds himself faced with a scene in which reality and imagination coexist. They may be disturbing, but hardly scary. More than anything it seems like the achievement of a hypothetical condition of harmony.
Antonio Bardino (Alghero, 1973 – Udine) has exhibited in various cities and galleries both in Italy and abroad, including Gilda Contemporary art in Milan, Crag gallery in Turin, Fondazione Bartoli Felter in Cagliari, Gallery Oxholm in Copenhagen, ArtVerona and Art in Cloud in Rome. He celebrates nature by enhancing the beauty of flora and creating, overall, botanical gardens on canvas. Nature which in some cases tries to be controlled by man and therefore “domesticated” and brought into our homes. In others, however, it becomes resilient and even exuberant. We are faced with the same topic, but treated from different points of view and in different ways. Bardino’s vegetation does not recall elusive postcard landscapes. They are any green corners, random shots, portions of nature that invite us to immerse ourselves within them.
Giovanni Bongiovanni (Augusta, 2001), despite his very young age, has already been selected last year for the XVII National Arts Prize of Carrara by the jury chaired by Demetrio Paparoni and this year he is among the finalists of the Prisma Art Prize (Rome ) edited by Domenico De Chirico. Bongiovanni’s paintings are a tribute to wild nature in which spontaneous vegetation reigns supreme. On display are two works made up of close-up shots in which the human presence is only suggested, while in a third, three children are filmed in a moment of play and carefree intent on crossing a river and climbing up a woody cliff, precisely in close contact with the wildest and therefore truest nature. The child closest to the spectator looks back, involving him directly, making him an “active” part of the scene, asking for clarification or why not, inviting him to come.
Simone Bubbico (Turin, 1984) has received several awards, including finalist in the Canova Prize in New York in 2018, the special AXA Prize at the 8th Talent Prize in Rome in 2015, 1st place in the sculpture section on the occasion of the 6th ° Arte Laguna International Prize in Venice, as well as several personal and collective exhibitions including at the Weber & Weber gallery and at the Cavallerizza Reale, both in Turin. The series of drawings “In Bloom” takes inspiration from some of his preparatory studies carried out for the creation of sculptural works. The artist, starting from reflections on the critical situation in which our planet finds itself due to human action, tried to represent the tendency that nature, and therefore life, has to be reborn. The “mutilated” bodies taken from classical statuary are treated by Bubbico as fertile ground from which to make flowers sprout. As if to say that even from the remains of a lost splendor new beauty can be born.
Emilia Faro (Catania, 1976 – Turin) is present in prestigious public and private collections and boasts several exhibitions, including solo exhibitions at the Bianchi Zardin in Milan, at the Botanical Garden of Palermo, at the Davide Paludetto Gallery and at the Videoinsight Foundation in Turin . Her palms do not seek verisimilitude, but become a spiritual and victory symbol. They are depicted as soaring totems with a stem made up of small scales and a thick crown of long, tapered leaves. The colors used are vivid, sometimes even gaudy, as in the case of fuchsia pink, a seductive shade linked to femininity. Or blue, in its different shades, the spiritual symbol par excellence, as well as of calm and peace. Due to their ability to rise upwards, they are considered elements of connection between the earthly and the divine, while due to their conformation they symbolize the union between the male and female spheres.
Among the many exhibitions of Elisa Zadi (Arezzo, 1979 – Florence) we particularly mention those at the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art in Prato, at the MART – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rovereto, at the Museo Novecento in Florence and at the Visconti Castle in Pavia. Among the various awards we remember the selection for the Combat Prize and the Cairo Arte Prize in 2015. In her works the connection between man and nature is evident in many aspects. The girls’ bodies present in her works are self-portraits. In the succession of his exhibited works it is possible to see the passage from a journey on unexplored territory, to the reflection on today’s reality characterized by continuous change and a condition of precariousness, to arrive at the exploration of the concept of rebirth and transformation which leads to personal and spiritual growth.
Davies Zambotti (Turin, 1980 – Milan) is a director and photographer. Among the various exhibitions in Italy and abroad, we highlight the solo exhibition at the Fusion Art Gallery in Turin and the group exhibitions at A Pick Gallery and Davide Paludetto also in Turin. The artist gives us a dreamy and ethereal nature, but also “alive” and extremely delicate. Alive because his shooting technique instills a sensation of movement in the vegetation represented there. At the same time, it appears in all his delicacy, also understood as fragility. And as with all fragile and delicate things, we need to take the utmost care if we want to protect them and enjoy their beauty and benefits. His landscapes are an invitation to see things from another perspective, in another light, on a journey aimed at deconstructing and reconstructing an imaginary that becomes a mirror of the inner state of mind.
This exhibition aims to pay homage to the magnificence of Nature by highlighting its link with man and inducing reflection through works that make us rediscover the primordial, vital and essential connection with it. The exhibition, with free entry, can be visited until 28 June: from Tuesday to Saturday according to the usual opening hours of the gallery or previous appointment. For further information and contacts, consult the art gallery website.
