Gian Maria Tosatti: NOw/here

From February 23 to July 30, 2023, Pirelli HangarBicocca presents NOw/here, the solo exhibition by Gian Maria Tosatti (Rome, 1980; lives and works in Naples), one of the most interesting Italian artists in recent years. Two impressive painting cycles: with these new textured, abstract, large-format works, the artist who represented Italy in 2022 at the 59th Venice Biennale, reveals his painting practice for the first time.   

The exhibition NOw/here, curated by Vicente Todolí, consists of two cycles of paintings presented for the first time at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Portraits (2022) and NOw/here (2023). These large-scale works are set up in close relationship with the architecture of Pirelli HangarBicocca, creating moments of interaction and contrasting situations. Portraits comprises four gold and rust paintings on iron panels, assembled and installed on tube and clamp structures. The processes of corrosion and oxidation of metal, which physically restore a sense of the passing of time, become painterly “matter.” By using gold, the artist draws on the Western painting tradition, from Byzantine mosaics and the gold backgrounds of 13th- and 14th-century panel painting, to the more recent experimental practices of Italian artists of the 1970s, such as Jannis Kounellis, Gino De Dominicis, and Luciano Fabro. With Portraits, Tosatti dematerializes the two-dimensionality of the surface to create a symbolic elsewhere world, producing, as he explains, “a surface that separates the realm of things from that of the soul.” On the other hand, the NOw/here series takes the form of ten large fields of graphite and white charcoal on canvas suspended from the ceiling. Thanks to the nuances obtained with the material—used as a large-scale painting technique—, Tosatti moves from the real to the imaginative dimension. The result is a series of depictions of horizons studded with enigmatic white spheres that, like glowing dots, evoke the idea of light, a recurring metaphor in his practice.

This new body of work condenses several recurring concepts of Gian Maria Tosatti’s research over the past two decades and embodies a dialogue with the Zeitgeist (Spirit of the time), resonating with the feelings, characteristic of the artist’s generation. For Tosatti, the exhibition becomes an opportunity to address aspects of current events as well as the human condition at such a difficult moment in time, in a society poised between catastrophe and evolution. These works are also conceived as “mirrors,” open questions that directly confront the visitor. In the words of the artist: “Right from the title, whose pronunciation differs depending on the perspective chosen by the reader, the exhibition is an invitation to delve into an environment that seems to pose an open, simple, intimate question to those who cross its threshold: ‘how do you feel?”

Through their material qualities, the paintings reconnect with the very moment when reality reveals itself, as evoked by the exhibition title “NOw/here,” whose elements can be read individually, as “now” and “here,” or sequentially, as in “nowhere.” This project is a coherent continuation of the artist’s poetic journey, showing extensive references to many of his past works, from Testamento—devozioni X (2011), to the more recent Episode of Odesa (2020) and History of Night and Destiny of Comets (2022). In NOw/here Tosatti seems to confront History, interpreting it not as a chain of events, but as a feeling, while trying to capture the moment to which we belong.

The lighting of the exhibition Now/here has been conceived by Pasquale Mari, a renowned light designer and director of photography who works in cinema, theatre and art.

The artist
Tosatti’s work focuses on the notions of collectivity and memory, in their historical, political, and spiritual significance. Carrying out in-depth, complex research, and freely drawing on the language of the visual arts, performance, and architecture, the artist creates sculptural works and large site-specific installations, often conceived for entire buildings or urban areas, intended to last for long periods of time. In addition, his practice engages communities connected to the places where his interventions take shape. This is true of Sette Stagioni dello Spirito (2013–2016), a titanic seven-stage project, which involved several highly symbolic buildings in the city of Naples that had previously been abandoned or, more recently, of My Heart is a Void, the Void is a Mirror, a work in progress that began in 2018 and has been developed in multiple countries.

His works and site-specific installations have been presented internationally: Tarlabaşi district, Istanbul (2021); Kuyalnik lake, Odesa (2020); A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town (2019); Palazzo Biscari, Catania (2018); Museo Madre, Naples (2016); Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples; Museo Archeologico, Salerno; CCS Bard - Hessel Museum, New York (2014). In 2022, Tosatti represented Italy at the 59th Venice Biennale. His works have also been included in major exhibitions such as Manifesta 12, Palermo (2018), or in group shows such as the exhibitions at the Italian Cultural Institute, New York (2019); Galleria Nazionale, Rome, Petah Tikva Museum of Art, Israel (2017); Fondazione Rivoli 2, Milan (2015); Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan; Museo Osvaldo Licini, Ascoli Piceno (2014); Mole Vanvitelliana, Ancona (2013); Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York (2011). Tosatti was awarded the Frescobaldi Prize (2020), the New York Prize (2017), the Ettore Fico Foundation Prize (2016) and the Terna Prize (2008). Gian Maria Tosatti is also a writer and journalist: he collaborates with several newspapers and has published a number of essays, including “Esperienza e realtà” (2021) and “New Men’s Land: Storia e Destino della Jungle di Calais” (2017). He is the artistic director of the Rome Quadriennale for the three-year period 2021-2024.

The exhibition program
NOw/here is part of the art program conceived by Artistic Director Vicente Todolí in collaboration with the curatorial department: Roberta Tenconi, Chief Curator; Lucia Aspesi, Curator; Fiammetta Griccioli, Curator. In addition to Tosatti’s solo show, the 2023 program includes, in the Navate space, exhibitions by Ann Veronica Janssens (April 6–July 30, 2023); and James Lee Byars (October 12, 2023–February 18, 2024). In the Shed space, an exhibition by Thao Nguyen Phan (September 14, 2023–January 14, 2024).