A contemporary look at the ancient
On the occasion of the restitution to the city of Trento of the remains of the Villa Romana, a dwelling built between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Galleria Civica presents: "Domus Contemporanea". The exhibition investigates, through the display of works by 31 modern and contemporary authors, the gaze of the artists present towards archaeology and ancient history.
Among the big names on display is David Aaron Angeli, a Chilean-born but Trentino-adopted artist who has long had a flourishing collaboration with Cellar Contemporary. Others, just to name a few, include Vanessa Beecroft, Carlo Belli, Giorgio de Chirico, Fausto Melotti, Luigi Ontani, Mimmo Paladino, Giulio Paolini, Michele Parisi, Salvo, Ettore Sottsass Jr, Francesco Vezzoli, and Adolfo Wildt.
All of them entertain with classicism a dialogue based on appropriations and reinventions; they tend to acquire figures and motifs from the archaeological imaginary by rewriting them and, often, evoking the effect of ruins and finds.
Angeli's research, in particular, is expressed in this specific case through sculpture. For the main section of the exhibition at the Galleria Civica di Trento, the artist presents "Orfeo. Uno sciamano capace di incantare animali, cantore e argonauta" (2023). For the second part of the exhibition, however, which sees branches in different parts of the city with site-specific works, Angeli exhibits two sculptures in the spaces of Cellar Contemporary: "A riposo" (2022) and "Offerta della perla" (2023).
"Domus Contemporanea" can be visited, in all its locations, from Thursday, June 22 to Sunday, November 26, 2023.
