The idea of an impending and total end has accompanied humanity since its dawn. The historical period we have lived through (and are still living through), especially in the initial phase of complete uncertainty about what would happen, has led us to reflect on the end and, as a result, on life and how we want to carry on living it. Originally scheduled for the beginning of the year and later postponed due to the pandemic containment measures, the artistic intervention by Erik Saglia (IT), which continues the ongoing cultural program of the Progetto Vetrina at Spazio Lampo in Chiasso, has (and maintains) a prophetic title. An intervention that simultaneously speaks to what we have experienced in these months and, more generally, of our relationship with reality. The vernissage will be spread out over several hours to allow visitors to safely maintain social distancing.
Originally planned for the beginning of 2020 and subsequently postponed, the new project curated by the "Associazione Grande Velocità" at Spazio Lampo in Chiasso features a site-specific artistic intervention by the artist Erik Saglia with a series of new paintings that intricately blend color and geometric patterns, continuing a discourse already undertaken in his previous solo exhibitions Odissea nella mia Stanza (Spazio Buonasera, Turin, 2016) and Pregenesi (Spazio Lancia, Turin, 2018).
This time, however, the artistic intervention is designed to seamlessly merge and camouflage itself among the objects and furnishings that represent the diverse aspects of the space that hosts it, a coworking space (Lampo is home to designers and freelancers, local organizations and small businesses) that opens up to the exchange of ideas by hosting a cultural program, altering its perception even in the eyes of those who live and consume it daily.
It is precisely with the disruption caused by the work gently entering the daily life of the space that Una tranquilla Apocalisse (A Quiet Apocalypse) takes place, to which Saglia references by featuring at the base of his paintings a vintage lithograph by Giorgio De Chirico that depicts an orderly and composed end of the world.
In this image, which today acquires a new and invigorated meaning, the crowd in impasse seems to offer a portrait of the disbelief with which we have witnessed the effects of the pandemic on our normality. No different from the characters in the Apocalypse, in fact, we remain to observe the strangeness and fascination of the catastrophe and welcome immobility as an opportunity to reflect on ourselves and our certainties, while, unprepared to imagine something different, we await the gradual return of the world we knew before.
September 5, 2020
