Mirror, mirror on the wall
Mirror, mirror on the wall.The seduction of the self-portrait
Art exhibition
Salt Warehouses of Cervia
from Friday 19th July to Sunday 18th August 2024
from 8 p.m. to midnight
At the Salt Warehouse in Cervia, the exhibition ‘Specchio delle mie brame’ (Mirror, mirror on the wall) opens on Friday 19th July.
As the title suggests, the theme of the works on display concerns the self-portrait, the artist in the mirror in his desire, or obsession, to artistically fix his own image.
The self-portrait can take on different aspects: it can be fiction or truth, allegory or confession, speculation or divertissement, mask or obsession.
The exhibition, curated by Prof. Claudio Spadoni, offers a cross-section of more than a century of art, from the early 20th century to the present day, and opens with a symbolic ‘Mirror’ by Giosetta Fioroni, one of the leading artists of her generation.
Works by great Italian masters are exhibited, such as Giorgio de Chirico, the main exponent of Metaphysics, Mario Sironi, one of the most important artists in early 20th century Italy, and Michelangelo Pistoletto, the protagonist of the Arte Povera current.
There is also no shortage of major international artists, from Joseph Beuys, a legend of his generation, to Marina Abramovic, one of the most famous and controversial personalities in contemporary art.
Some protagonists, particularly dedicated to the activity of self-portraiture, are given ample space with several works: this is the case of Mattia Moreni, author of large-scale self-portraits, and Sergio Vacchi, almost maniacally committed to reproducing his own image in pictorial evocations of well-known literary themes, or Manai, a great talent who died while still young.
Also present is Luigi Ontani, who has spanned half a century embodying his image in the most disparate figures in history, in an unmistakable narcissistic interaction between the ironic and the dramatic, and the unusual figure of actor, playwright, director and painter Dario Fo.
The exhibition is divided into four sections:
- Realisms and Premonitions, which also opens the exhibition chronologically, includes a series of protagonists of Italian painting of the last century - among others, Mancini, Sironi, Balla, Notte, Mascellani, Corsi, Menzio, Guttuso and Manai - who practise self-portraiture in a mimetic manner.
- The personal myth, we find artists almost obsessed with self-representation, such as Moreni, Beuys, Zavattini, Abramovic and a series of large self-portraits by Moreni.
- The Mirror and the Scene. Glimpses, with paintings by Sergio Vacchi, a ‘Mirror’ by Giosetta Fioroni, ‘Mirrors2’ by Michelangelo Pistoletto, and works by various other artists such as Debora Hirsch, Concetto Pozzati, Pierre Moliner, then Ligabue, with a decidedly obsessive intonation.
- Narcissus. Beyond the Mirror, Metaphors and Metonyms, brings back the myth of Narcissus, in all its implications, through the metaphors and metonyms of languages that from painting to objects represent a range of creative solutions that mirror a very multiform topicality, here we find artists such as Luigi Ontani, Filippo Farneti, Nicola Samorì and many others.
Inauguration
Friday 19th July 6.30 p.m.
The Mayor of Cervia Mattia Missiroli, Cervia Municipality Culture Councillor Federica Bosi, the President and Director of the Ravenna CNA Matteo Leoni and Massimo Mazzavillani, and Prof. Claudio Spadoni.
Free Entrance
When
from Friday 19th July to Sunday 18th August 2024
Opening
from 8 p.m to Midnight
Luogo
Torre Salt Warehouse
Cervia - Via Nazario Sauro
Free
Yes
Official Tourist Information Site of Cervia