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Until 4 March 4 2025, the Dom Pérignon Rooms at Ca’ Pesaro–International Gallery of Modern Art in Venice hosted “Sculpture as a Dead Language”, an exhibition focused on the dialogue between Giorgio Andreotta Calò and the city, starting from the reflections of Arturo Martini. With a selection of works spanning over two decades of the artist’s career, the exhibition invited visitors to reflect on sculpture as a living trace, made of memory and material.

The small yet precious exhibition by Giorgio Andreotta Calò (Venice, 1979) in the Dom Pérignon Rooms of Ca’ Pesaro sparked an extensive reflection on material, in relation to the space that has both welcomed and generated it. Curated by Elisabetta Barisoni, the exhibition draws from the renowned text by Arturo Martini La scultura lingua morta, published in Venice in 1945. This anguished declaration radically attacks sculpture, questioning whether itcan be redemptive or universal. From Martini’s deep and intimate questioning arose a dialogue, a tête-à-tête, between Giorgio Andreotta Calò and his native city. Venice is framed as a reservoir of visual and auditory stimuli, as well as rhythmic crossingsto which one can always return. The dialogue highlights the plasticity and physicality of Venice, guiding us through the heart of the “dead language” ‒ a journey marked by the works of Andreotta Calò created over the course of twenty years.

GIORGIO ANDREOTTA CALÒ IN VENICE

The first work is encountered almost by chance: Medusa, one of the many pieces from the artist’s expansive series, now part of the civic collection of Ca’ Pesaro thanks to the Piano per l’Arte Contemporanea (PAC2021). Conceived as a “faulty” work, it has been revised and reworked multiple times. Today, it is positioned in a bright corner along the first-floor landing of the museum. Giorgio Andreotta Calò describes it as “rightly brutal,” comparing it to the shifting, twisted form of the palace itself.After ascending a few steps, the first of the Dom Pérignon Rooms at Ca’ Pesaro, intentionally dark and intimate, housed a unique example from the Medusaseries (a subject very dear to the artist), placed in dialogue with Martini’s famous Testa di Medusa(1929). The two round, imposing heads rested on a white pedestal, the base of which extended into a mirrored panel that reflected the two sculptures in a 360-degree view, all amplified by the soft, almost gloomy lighting.

GIORGIO ANDREOTTA CALÒ AT CA’ PESARO

In the second room, overlooking the Grand Canal, Calò explored the history of the building and the various structural changes it has undergone through his celebrated Clessidre, Pinne Nobilis, and Carotaggi series. On the floor, visitorscould admire the Carotaggi, the result of investigations carried out by the Public Works professionals of the Municipality of Venice on the façade of Ca’ Pesaro itself. The Pinna Nobilisseries, named after the mollusk whose survival is now at risk, consisted of shell-like sculptures scattered throughout the room, even extending to the small balcony outside. They resemble a cocoon opening and serve as a tribute to Venice, the artist’s mother city.Finally, the imposing Clessidre, several models of which were displayed, were created between 2017 and 2022. They evoke the union between Giorgio Andreotta Calò’s art, his city, and the space itself. Their form mirrors the trunks of the lagoon, sunk in the water and corroded by time and the rhythm of the waves.Framing this visceral relationship with Venice, on the walls of the final room were research, drawings, and traces from photographic campaigns in the collections of Ca’ Pesaro, reflections and intertwining of a history merging with Calò’s works, thanks to the collaboration with the young Venetian collective Ipercubo (Nicolò Brunetta, Matteo Rattini, Stefano Stoppa, and Erica Toffanin), who producesand curatesartistic projects related to publishing.

Zita Alberti 

https://capesaro.visitmuve.it/it/mostre/mostre-in-corso/giorgio-andreotta-calo/2024/03/23278/giorgio-andreotta-calo-2/

Translated with AI