GIANMARIA POTENZA’GRAPHIC RESEARCH IN ST.PETERSBURG
DALLA FORMA AL SEGNO
by ENZO FORNARO
FROM 19/11 TO 01/12 2019
The Museum of 20th and 21st Century St. Petersburg Art
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
The “Dalla Forma al Segno” exhibition opened on 19th November 2019. Hosted by the St. Petersburg Museum of 20th and 21st Century Art, this solo exhibition is part of the Museum’s initiative to promote international art, especially that coming from Italy.
The exhibition, curated by Enzo Fornaro, retraces Gianmaria Potenza’s graphic research through a selection of over twenty serigraphs, with a special focus on the Tarot series. This was begun in the 1990s, based on a homonymous series of 22 wooden panels made in 1986/87, nowadays part of the art collection of the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena in Padua.
“Dalla Forma al Segno” investigates Potenza’s artistic instinct. The instinct that leads him to materially redefine shapes in his sculptures, expressing himself through dimensions and volumes, imposing a rhythm and a search for surfaces and light. Faced with the graphic, Potenza metamorphosizes his forms, bringing powerful interpretations to the signs.
“Potenza’s graphic research is striking for the lively colours of the works exhibited in the show, which remind us of Venetian glass arts and the use of metals in graphics, not forgetting classical Venetian art forms and the Byzantine roots of his sculpture. This is the essence of Potenza, who uses signs rather than forms to transform his sculptures into a single dimension. Not just an eclectic researcher, he’s a thinker who wants to use his output to express strength, taste and beauty. What is graphic is a direct descendant of his art, not fleeting result of his research but the demonstration that the primordial graphic expression in his works is an important component of his art” (Enzo Fornaro).
The exhibition is organised in collaboration with the St. Petersburg Manege Museum and the Italian Cultural Institute, sponsored by the city of St. Petersburg.
For info about the Museum and Opening hours http://www.mispxx-xxi.ru/eng/