BODIES AND MINDS
With jewellery by Daria Borovkova, Sana Khalil, Lavinia Rossetti, Federica Sala, Giulia Savino and Marìa Ignacia Walker.
Curated by Antonia Alampi and Riccardo Lami.
Galleria Romanelli, Borgo San Frediano 70, Firenze
In 1829 the sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini transforms an abandoned fourteenth century church in a studio where his student Pasquale Romanelli, followed by five generations of male heirs, develops the Romanelli Gallery. Hundred-eighty-seven years later six female jewellery artists take over the space and its collection challenging disciplinary and gender hierarchies. BODIES AND MINDS offers unexpected connections and ironic cultural appropriations, in a path that relates illustrious examples of copies and originals from the history of Italian sculpture to the experimental relational dimension of contemporary jewellery.
A large crowd of rings asks us to reflect on the manufacturing of our cultural identities, both as individuals and as members of larger communities, in “Being and Belonging” by Daria Borovkova. Another critical mass of circular shapes, now without a specific identity, characterizes “In Conflict. Moments of Strike” by Sana Khalil, a tribute or cynical celebration to the impossibility of the artist to perform direct political agency over the world. While such ambitions can only strengthen our sense of inadequacy, “1: 20,000” by Giulia Savino invites us to remain suspended, to let ourselves be carried away by those states of temporary sense of satisfaction that keep us above the world through the appropriation of real and imaginary cities. On a more personal level, “Madeleine” by Lavinia Rossetti evokes the ephemeral existence of our memories, finding ways to give form to the essence of significant moments. A similar sense of transience characterizes “Trascendieron” by María Ignacia Walker in a tribute to our daily losses, a possible humorous comment to the Western impulse to preserve and collect. Finally, and gently, “True Lies. A Collection of Oxymoron” by Federica Sala confronts us with existential questions: what is the true nature of our experience or how do we define reality, whispering, perhaps, what contemporary jewelry wants .
All images are by Martino Margheri.
