Turin, October 30 (askanews) – Forty years of an art gallery that began in Turin to tour the world, but has maintained its roots and the center of its work in the Piedmontese capital. Mazzoleni concludes the celebrations for four decades of activity with an exhibition dedicated to Giorgio de Chirico, "Contemporary Enigma," in which important works by the great protagonist of Metaphysical Art dialogue with today's artists.
"We started out with great passion—our family, of course, and I'm not talking about myself personally," Davide Mazzoleni, son of the gallery's founder, told askanews. "With this interest in de Chirico, we've always had a strong connection with him; he's been in our collection, and here we wanted to thank the city for what it's given us. These 40 years have been truly intense, full of satisfaction, and with this exhibition, we also want to thank all the artists who have accompanied us throughout these decades of history."
The exhibition features absolute masterpieces, both from De Chirico's Piazza series and lesser-known but equally powerful works. These are enhanced by their relationship, as happens, for example, with The Disquieting Muses, perhaps the most famous De Chirico of all, juxtaposed with a painting by Salvo, or in the exchange of perspectives with the works woven by Marinella Senatore based on De Chirico's influences.
"It's truly interesting," the artist told us, "to rediscover and restudy artists of his caliber. I love these challenges, I love connections, I love the narrative as a whole. So truly finding threads—in this case, technical ones—that connect our narratives was an interesting challenge, and I think it also makes great sense for my position in a gallery like Mazzoleni, which has such a significant legacy of modern artists, and then we, in the contemporary art world, measure ourselves against this heritage." Other apt juxtapositions include a remarkable series of cracks by Andrea Francolino, which constructs a mysterious geographical picture gallery, but also with one of Massimo Vitali's large beaches, which here transforms into a tender, postmodern Italian piazza. And what emerges in the end is a sort of self-portrait of the Mazzolenis. "Yes, it is a very, very intense exhibition – concluded Davide Mazzoleni – and it represents our family a little, it represents the path we have taken and this is the passion that has brought us to this point, because 40 years is not a short time". The enigma of de Chirico continues to accompany us, and the sensation, walking through the rooms and the memories that each work brings on a personal level, is that without enigmas of this type, life would be much less interesting.
Askanews