Attitudes/Sculpture #1: An Exhibition Defining Sculpture at the Eduardo Secci Contemporary

By Suleyman Azhari, NYU Florence student

The Eduardo Secci Contemporary Art Gallery opens a new exhibition on the art of sculpture titled ATTITUDES/SCULPTURE #1 curated by Daniele Capra. Daniele Capra is an independent international curator who has done over eighty shows in Italy, France, and numerous other countries in Europe and the Middle East. He is also currently the editor of Artribune, Il Manifesto, Venezie Post and Gruppo Espresso.

The exhibit will portray artworks and installations by: Ludovico Bomben, Nick Hornby, Charlotte Mumm, Santiago Reyes Villaveces, Jonathan Sullam.

Exhibition Opening: February 25, 2016 from 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m
This exhibition will run from February 26, 2016 through May 14, 2016
Tuesday through Saturday
10am to 7pm

Eduardo Secci Contemporary
Via Maggio 51/R
50125 – Florence (FI)
Italy
gallery@eduardosecci.com
(+39) 055 283506

ATTITUDES/SCULPTURE #1

This exhibition on sculpture explores the challenges of defining the art of sculpture in the context of contemporary art. This is because contemporary sculpture today often places an emphasis on intentions, concepts, and symbolism. The contrasting materials, practices, and varying interactions with space and setting leaves no explicit definition of what sculpture might be, yet we are able to recognize it.

As a visitor in Florence, for whom the city’s renaissance heritage and ideals are so visibly recognizable in its art and architecture, visiting an exhibition that calls into question the very definition of sculpture and its unique practices is particularly interesting. This is because contemporary sculpture possesses the ability to evoke emotions from the viewer that may not necessarily be related to beauty, or ideals. As a result, Secci’s ATTITUDES/SCULPTURE #1 exhibition presents a curious contrast with the intentions and objectives of renaissance art, where the works of Michelangelo or Bernini are produced by artists and received by its viewers largely on the basis of visual beauty: A beauty dominated by the sense of sight, and a beauty that revolves around the aestheticization of the natural world.

The exhibition ATTITUDES/SCULPTURE #1 in its attempt to question, and make sense of our individual approaches, attitudes, and practices towards the art of contemporary sculpture helps us to identify what is unique about contemporary sculpture, how it differs from the way sculpture was understood, practiced and read in the past, and the usefulness of a dialogue between the two.

Eduardo Secci Contemporary Art Gallery
In a city where Renaissance art and architecture profoundly dominates the visual arts scene, the Eduardo Secci Contemporary that opened its doors in 2012 has been part of a set of contemporary art actors pushing for a “re-renaissance” of contemporary art. As opposed to Florentine Museums’ long lasting marriage with classical antiquity, his gallery has held exhibitions featuring a variety of contemporary media and genres from both emerging and established local and international artists. Eduardo Secci Contemporary draws the Florentine public into current developments of the international contemporary art scene, while also acting as a force for future artistic innovation.The gallery hosts six to eight shows a year, while also participating in art fairs around Italy and abroad.

Further information on the Artists:

Ludovico Bomben
Bomben explores the geometrical and spatial relationships of Italian altarpieces from the 15th and 16th century. He combines minimalist Modernism with a sense of Renaissance divinity.

Nick Hornby
Hornby juxtaposes sculptural classicism with minimalism.  He also explores and investigates the ability to dissect and cut matter.

Charlotte Mumm
Mumm’s sculptures connect the possibilities of matter with human bodies and the imaginary ideas of the inner self. Her works combines organic and geometric elements that are in constant friction.

Santiago Reyes Villaveces
Vellaveces looks at the structural tension between different elements and its limits, often using wood and metal. Eduardo Secci notes that Vellaveces believes that space itself is an element where tension can be explored.

Jonathan Sullam
Sullam tells us that his work is often paradoxical where the materials used aren’t necessarily representative of its function. They often seek to capture the tensions preceding a fall or an ascent and are suspended in time and space. Moreover, Sullum’s works portray a sense strength as well as fragility.  

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On Febuary 25th 2016 at 6:30 p.m, The Eduardo Secci Contemporary Art Gallery inaugurated a new exhibition space in Piazza Goldoni n. 2, with the exhibition Tensioni Strutturali #1, curated by Angel Moya Garcia.