The Three Gems
Maurizio Donzelli
Curated by Ilaria Bignotti
Eduardo Secci
Florence, from May 27 to September 10, 2022
Opening: Friday, May 27, 6:00 - 9:00
Exhibition walkthrough video online
Exhibition view, The Three Gems, Maurizio Donzelli, 2022, Eduardo Secci Firenze, Photo Stefano Maniero, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Florence, Milan
Eduardo Secci gallery is pleased to announce the solo show “The Three Gems” by Maurizio Donzelli, curated by Ilaria Bignotti, in Florence, from May 27 to September 10, 2022.
The exhibition evokes the story of an ancient fairy tale, which continues to resound in our heads of disenchanted adults: the gem itself represents the idea of preciousness, of the discovery in the mineral hardness of things; and also, alchemical wisdom, a powerful intuition that you recognize intact and remains, beyond space and time.
Maurizio Donzelli accompanies the visitor in an exploration and imaginative emotion process through an exhibition that develops along with three environments with the desire to propose as many different "germinations" of his artistic production.
At first, the audience is invited to a contemplative vision, a slow immersion in the image, finding before the eyes, gold on black, some works of the series O conceived specifically. They are declined in new forms differently from the previous, such as rhombus and octagon, and realized with gold-colored leaves on gold. The exhibited works refer in a certain way to the relationship of opposition between perfection and the possibility of change and indefiniteness. The adjoining room is characterized by a reflective system, in which the observer's gaze is tripartite, descending, rising, and rotating. The use includes three visual movements, and the artist allows you to enter the work in your steps. "On the floor, the Girandole are specially placed and processed in a walkable form: curvilinear jubilation that unfolds in all the branches of blue, the color par excellence of depth and reflection, of metaphysics and meditation. The whitish tongues swirling on the floor invite the viewer to a second visual moment: the eyes swirl and chase the pictorial aquarium. They rise on the walls and discover that above them, like a double and composite image, other possible mirrors of the image hang. A reflective system acts as a sounding board for the floor installation and multiplies it. The gaze descends, goes up, and finally stands on the walls: a large framed Girandola stands: an attempt by the artist to delimit the boundary between creation and vision, between measurable and inexplicable painting", writes Ilaria Bignotti. Finally, the explosion of colors, gems of light, and joy, fascinate and amazes the audience, as a kind of imagination machine. The visitor will be enchanted by "three large Aleph, three-dimensional parallelepipeds devices that guard in a diaphanous and reflective membrane, internal shapes in continuous change. A punctum that condenses what is unleashed on the walls: new Mirrors, among Donzelli's most iconic works, are arranged in the new environment. They are dominated by colors, from pink, from red, from burgundy, from loud yellows".
The exhibition leads into potential new worlds, which seduce and to which our gaze isn't accustomed.
The exhibition walkthrough video will be online at: www.eduardosecci.com/exhibitions.
Curatorial text by Ilaria Bignotti
The exhibition project conceived by Maurizio Donzelli (1958, Brescia, Italy) and created for the gallery spaces is a site-specific itinerary that accompanies the visitor in a progress of discovery and imaginative experience, intervening in the position and relationship between the work, environment, perception, and visual projection.
In the first room, the viewer will find, before his eyes, gold on black, some works of the series "O" made specifically for the exhibition. Declined in new forms compared to the previous, such as rhombus and octagon, these works made with gold leaves on gold dialogue between perfection and the possibility of change and indefiniteness. These invite the gaze to a slow immersion in the work: a penetrate between the shining layers that compose them, thickening on the surface and digging deep. Around it, the environment is a dark grotto, a cave: it welcomes the reverberation of the work, the cradle, and relaunches in a contemplative vision.
In the second room, the viewer is led to a tripartite gaze: he enters by treading the works with his steps. In fact, on the floor, the Girandole are specially placed and processed in a walkable form: curvilinear jubilation that unfolds in all the branches of blue, the color par excellence of depth and reflection, metaphysics, and meditation. The whitish tongues swirling on the floor invite the viewer to a second visual moment: the eyes swirl and chase the pictorial aquarium. They rise on the walls and discover that above them, like a double and composite image, other possible mirrors of the image hang. A reflective system acts as a sounding board for the floor installation and multiplies it. The gaze descends, goes up, and finally stands on the walls: here stands a large Girandola, framed: an attempt by the artist to "delimit" the boundary between creation and vision, between expressible and inexplicable painting.
The third room stands as a "machine à imaginer" and potentially relaunches the path, asking the visitor to be enchanted by three large Aleph, three-dimensional parallelepiped devices that guard, in a diaphanous and reflective membrane, internal forms in continuous change. Sculptures like dioramas and machines, in fact, of wonder. A punctum that condenses what is unleashed on the walls: new Mirrors, among Donzelli’s most iconic works, are arranged in the environment. They are dominated by the colors, the pinks, the reds, the burgundy, the bright yellows. Gems of light and joy bloom in our passage.
From this description, we can see the meaning of the exhibition title “The Three Gems”. It is an evocative title that almost seems to be that of an ancient fairy tale, which nevertheless continues to resound - and precious - the gem itself contains the idea of alchemical wisdom, a powerful intuition that in gems is recognized intact and remains, beyond time. But the idea of "gem" also leads to the continuous changing potential of the minerality of the stone. Ideally, it reconnects to the previous exhibition "Diramante" that the gallery Eduardo Secci had dedicated to Donzelli in 2015, recalling the principle of germination - today, of the gemmation - of his images in potential new worlds to which our gaze and our mind are led by the hand of his research that bewitches and interrogates, amazes, and seduces.
Maurizio Donzelli (1958, Brescia, Italy) lives and works in Brescia. The artist with a background ranging from philosophy to anthropology developed extensive research that focuses on the problem of the image as a potential place of concentration, migration, and alteration of visual memory. The works develop into distinct cycles and experience different materials and techniques, continuing to deepen and return to the public an infinite potential of suggestions and iconic references that sink into the dynamics of time and history and extend in geographies even distant. His works have been exhibited at the Museo Civico Medievale, Bologna (2021); MAC Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Lissone (2020); Shenzhen Contemporary Art Biennale, Luohu Art Museum, Shenzhen (2018); Museo Nazionale Romano - Palazzo Altemps, Rome (2015); Palazzo Ducale, Mantua (2017); Palazzo Fortuny, Venice (2017, 2012); Triennale di Milano, Milan (2013); GAMeC, Bergamo (2004); Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, Rome (2003); Galleria Civica d'Arte Contemporanea, Trento (2002).
Ilaria Bignotti is an independent curator and art critic.
Eduardo Secci is an Italian art gallery in Florence - where it was founded in 2013 - and Milan with two locations opened in 2021 and 2022. It presents a double program featuring the exhibitions of the main gallery and its independent experimental space NOVO.
EDUARDO SECCI Firenze
The Three Gems - Maurizio Donzelli
Curated by Ilaria Bignotti
From May 27 to September 10, 2022
NOVO Firenze
La Chute - Marco De Sanctis
Curated by Edoardo Monti
From May 27 to September 10, 2022
Opening: Friday, May 27, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Piazza Goldoni 2, Florence, Italy / +39 055 661356 / firenze@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Milano (Via Olmetto) NEW LOCATION
Unmatter - Joshua Hagler, Luisa Rabbia, Maja Ruznic
Curated by Alberto Fiz
From April 28 to August 5, 2022
NOVO Milano (Via Olmetto) NEW LOCATION
Tillman Kaiser
Curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto
From April 28 to August 5, 2022
Via Olmetto 1, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Milano (Via Zenale)
Daniel Crews-Chubb and Kevin Francis Gray
Curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto
From April 1 to June 3, 2022 (extended)
Michael Staniak
From June 8 to September 24, 2022
Via Zenale 3, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm
www.eduardosecci.com / gallery@eduardosecci.com / IG @eduardoseccigallery / FB @eduardoseccicontemporary
www.novo.ooo / hello@novo.ooo / IG @novo_projects / FB @NOVOprojects
Exhibition walkthroughs videos with artists and curators:
www.eduardosecci.com/exhibitions - www.novo.ooo/exhibitions
Press Office: THE KNACK STUDIO / Tamara Lorenzi
tamara@theknackstudio.com / +39 347 0712934
info@theknackstudio.com / www.theknackstudio.com
The Three Gems
Maurizio Donzelli
Curated by Ilaria Bignotti
Eduardo Secci
Florence, from May 27 to September 10, 2022
Opening: Friday, May 27, 6:00 - 9:00
Exhibition walkthrough video online
Exhibition view, The Three Gems, Maurizio Donzelli, 2022, Eduardo Secci Firenze, Photo Stefano Maniero, Courtesy the artist and Eduardo Secci, Florence, Milan
Eduardo Secci gallery is pleased to announce the solo show “The Three Gems” by Maurizio Donzelli, curated by Ilaria Bignotti, in Florence, from May 27 to September 10, 2022.
The exhibition evokes the story of an ancient fairy tale, which continues to resound in our heads of disenchanted adults: the gem itself represents the idea of preciousness, of the discovery in the mineral hardness of things; and also, alchemical wisdom, a powerful intuition that you recognize intact and remains, beyond space and time.
Maurizio Donzelli accompanies the visitor in an exploration and imaginative emotion process through an exhibition that develops along with three environments with the desire to propose as many different "germinations" of his artistic production.
At first, the audience is invited to a contemplative vision, a slow immersion in the image, finding before the eyes, gold on black, some works of the series O conceived specifically. They are declined in new forms differently from the previous, such as rhombus and octagon, and realized with gold-colored leaves on gold. The exhibited works refer in a certain way to the relationship of opposition between perfection and the possibility of change and indefiniteness. The adjoining room is characterized by a reflective system, in which the observer's gaze is tripartite, descending, rising, and rotating. The use includes three visual movements, and the artist allows you to enter the work in your steps. "On the floor, the Girandole are specially placed and processed in a walkable form: curvilinear jubilation that unfolds in all the branches of blue, the color par excellence of depth and reflection, of metaphysics and meditation. The whitish tongues swirling on the floor invite the viewer to a second visual moment: the eyes swirl and chase the pictorial aquarium. They rise on the walls and discover that above them, like a double and composite image, other possible mirrors of the image hang. A reflective system acts as a sounding board for the floor installation and multiplies it. The gaze descends, goes up, and finally stands on the walls: a large framed Girandola stands: an attempt by the artist to delimit the boundary between creation and vision, between measurable and inexplicable painting", writes Ilaria Bignotti. Finally, the explosion of colors, gems of light, and joy, fascinate and amazes the audience, as a kind of imagination machine. The visitor will be enchanted by "three large Aleph, three-dimensional parallelepipeds devices that guard in a diaphanous and reflective membrane, internal shapes in continuous change. A punctum that condenses what is unleashed on the walls: new Mirrors, among Donzelli's most iconic works, are arranged in the new environment. They are dominated by colors, from pink, from red, from burgundy, from loud yellows".
The exhibition leads into potential new worlds, which seduce and to which our gaze isn't accustomed.
The exhibition walkthrough video will be online at: www.eduardosecci.com/exhibitions.
Curatorial text by Ilaria Bignotti
The exhibition project conceived by Maurizio Donzelli (1958, Brescia, Italy) and created for the gallery spaces is a site-specific itinerary that accompanies the visitor in a progress of discovery and imaginative experience, intervening in the position and relationship between the work, environment, perception, and visual projection.
In the first room, the viewer will find, before his eyes, gold on black, some works of the series "O" made specifically for the exhibition. Declined in new forms compared to the previous, such as rhombus and octagon, these works made with gold leaves on gold dialogue between perfection and the possibility of change and indefiniteness. These invite the gaze to a slow immersion in the work: a penetrate between the shining layers that compose them, thickening on the surface and digging deep. Around it, the environment is a dark grotto, a cave: it welcomes the reverberation of the work, the cradle, and relaunches in a contemplative vision.
In the second room, the viewer is led to a tripartite gaze: he enters by treading the works with his steps. In fact, on the floor, the Girandole are specially placed and processed in a walkable form: curvilinear jubilation that unfolds in all the branches of blue, the color par excellence of depth and reflection, metaphysics, and meditation. The whitish tongues swirling on the floor invite the viewer to a second visual moment: the eyes swirl and chase the pictorial aquarium. They rise on the walls and discover that above them, like a double and composite image, other possible mirrors of the image hang. A reflective system acts as a sounding board for the floor installation and multiplies it. The gaze descends, goes up, and finally stands on the walls: here stands a large Girandola, framed: an attempt by the artist to "delimit" the boundary between creation and vision, between expressible and inexplicable painting.
The third room stands as a "machine à imaginer" and potentially relaunches the path, asking the visitor to be enchanted by three large Aleph, three-dimensional parallelepiped devices that guard, in a diaphanous and reflective membrane, internal forms in continuous change. Sculptures like dioramas and machines, in fact, of wonder. A punctum that condenses what is unleashed on the walls: new Mirrors, among Donzelli’s most iconic works, are arranged in the environment. They are dominated by the colors, the pinks, the reds, the burgundy, the bright yellows. Gems of light and joy bloom in our passage.
From this description, we can see the meaning of the exhibition title “The Three Gems”. It is an evocative title that almost seems to be that of an ancient fairy tale, which nevertheless continues to resound - and precious - the gem itself contains the idea of alchemical wisdom, a powerful intuition that in gems is recognized intact and remains, beyond time. But the idea of "gem" also leads to the continuous changing potential of the minerality of the stone. Ideally, it reconnects to the previous exhibition "Diramante" that the gallery Eduardo Secci had dedicated to Donzelli in 2015, recalling the principle of germination - today, of the gemmation - of his images in potential new worlds to which our gaze and our mind are led by the hand of his research that bewitches and interrogates, amazes, and seduces.
Maurizio Donzelli (1958, Brescia, Italy) lives and works in Brescia. The artist with a background ranging from philosophy to anthropology developed extensive research that focuses on the problem of the image as a potential place of concentration, migration, and alteration of visual memory. The works develop into distinct cycles and experience different materials and techniques, continuing to deepen and return to the public an infinite potential of suggestions and iconic references that sink into the dynamics of time and history and extend in geographies even distant. His works have been exhibited at the Museo Civico Medievale, Bologna (2021); MAC Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Lissone (2020); Shenzhen Contemporary Art Biennale, Luohu Art Museum, Shenzhen (2018); Museo Nazionale Romano - Palazzo Altemps, Rome (2015); Palazzo Ducale, Mantua (2017); Palazzo Fortuny, Venice (2017, 2012); Triennale di Milano, Milan (2013); GAMeC, Bergamo (2004); Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, Rome (2003); Galleria Civica d'Arte Contemporanea, Trento (2002).
Ilaria Bignotti is an independent curator and art critic.
Eduardo Secci is an Italian art gallery in Florence - where it was founded in 2013 - and Milan with two locations opened in 2021 and 2022. It presents a double program featuring the exhibitions of the main gallery and its independent experimental space NOVO.
EDUARDO SECCI Firenze
The Three Gems - Maurizio Donzelli
Curated by Ilaria Bignotti
From May 27 to September 10, 2022
NOVO Firenze
La Chute - Marco De Sanctis
Curated by Edoardo Monti
From May 27 to September 10, 2022
Opening: Friday, May 27, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Piazza Goldoni 2, Florence, Italy / +39 055 661356 / firenze@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Milano (Via Olmetto) NEW LOCATION
Unmatter - Joshua Hagler, Luisa Rabbia, Maja Ruznic
Curated by Alberto Fiz
From April 28 to August 5, 2022
NOVO Milano (Via Olmetto) NEW LOCATION
Tillman Kaiser
Curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto
From April 28 to August 5, 2022
Via Olmetto 1, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Milano (Via Zenale)
Daniel Crews-Chubb and Kevin Francis Gray
Curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto
From April 1 to June 3, 2022 (extended)
Michael Staniak
From June 8 to September 24, 2022
Via Zenale 3, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm
www.eduardosecci.com / gallery@eduardosecci.com / IG @eduardoseccigallery / FB @eduardoseccicontemporary
www.novo.ooo / hello@novo.ooo / IG @novo_projects / FB @NOVOprojects
Exhibition walkthroughs videos with artists and curators:
www.eduardosecci.com/exhibitions - www.novo.ooo/exhibitions
Press Office: THE KNACK STUDIO / Tamara Lorenzi
tamara@theknackstudio.com / +39 347 0712934
info@theknackstudio.com / www.theknackstudio.com
