LITTLE TREASURES
The whole world in miniature
A sense of dedication to and passion for the ancient values connected to the image and a skilled handseems to be the common denominator of the artists hosted in the Little Treasures exhibition. And, even when photography (or digital technology) are used to enrich the visual texture, it is as if an almost handcrafted poetic brought it all back to the precious artefacts of medieval workshops. Curated by Paola Trevisan, the “little jewels” were on display at the De Marchi Gallery in Bologna between 23 March and 4 April.
Those who had the pleasure to visit it could see how the artworks on display, with their spirit of innovation, inspired analogies with the exquisite, very refined decorations of ancient illustrators. Proof of how such a comment is not inappropriate is the size of the support employed by the artists: 20×20 cm (7.9”x7.9”) – a Lilliputian, reduced, minimal size. In the curator’s intention, the aim was to express, through the common denominator of the small size, “all kinds of artistic expressions, in a 360-degree opening to the concept of art” (from the Little Treasures catalogue).
For centuries, the small size has been isolated and emarginated, obscured by the exuberant and pompous modern frames. However, in recent times, it seems to have found its modest treasure chest, its fascinating, reserved splendour, since it is much likelier to adapt to the needs of a nomadic public, voluble and desirous to surround itself with fragments and ephemeral atmospheres, singular visions.
These potentialities are expressed by the society in which we live, and this is testified to by the fact that this exhibition was the result of artists converging here from various continents, from Europe to Asia to Oceania. It was precisely the presence of personalities coming from different countries that allowed the creation of a ‘miniature world’. This refers not only to the sizes of the artworks, but also to the chance of analysing, comparing, distinguishing them according to the ways and trends that today’s visual arts follow in looking for their barycentre. A dis-located, glocalised barycentre. And, in looking atthe artworks on display, it is easy to think about how pictorial currents and styles are increasingly becoming a melting pot of motifs, interactions – in a word, communicative richness.
But then, again, criticised as it is, painting seems to have currently found, thanks to the pervasive new media, its archaic functions again. This is clear in the practices realised by the new technologies, which increasingly give way to the new, the wondrous, the magic of tradition.
But what are the pictorial models of the new millennium that this event brought together?
In underlining how the artworks were not arranged according to static categories but kept the pleasant freshness of an assemblage, it is possible to identify multiple modalities of production. A collection of Informal art – first of all – but with a lot of Naif spirit, a few appearances of the Neo-figurative style andunconscious manifestations of Art Brut.
One is rarely able to observe the whole world contained within a small sphere. Little Treasures is there for you to experience just that.
Vittorio Pellegrino
art critic, Bologna
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