NM Contemporary is glad to present Prospect, the first solo show by the Italian artist Vincenzo Marsiglia in the Principality of Monaco, curated by Beatrice Audrito and Davide Sarchioni.

 

Prospect (vision, perspective, probability, hope) is the sweeping, visionary gaze that distinguishes the evolution of Vincenzo Marsiglia’s artistic career, the thread linking the fundamental passages of his 25 years of tireless research. A systematic investigation which the artist has conducted on the basis of the development of a distinctive sign, a module in the form of a star known as the Unità Marsiglia (UM). He has subsequently declined this module in a series of solutions and concepts, all different but all sharing a coherent vision that, irrespective of the traditional or technological techniques and materials employed, is influenced by an interdisciplinary approach and by a dynamic, innovative approach that reveals his contemporary identity. Guiding his research is the continual formulation of this four-pointed star, which is defined as the measure of all things. It is reproduced on complex surfaces using systems of summation and multiplication, the diverse configurations of form and meaning of which stimulate combinations of heterogeneous elements and materials and encourage the artist to take up new challenges aiming at the conquest of real and virtual spaces.   

 

The exhibition itinerary begins in the first room where for the occasion the artist has designed Wallpaper Op Mirror, a wallpaper created in collaboration with Ricoh Italia, using a particular mirror paper that covers two walls of the space with geometric patterns and optical effects, such as tool to transform the architecture of the place. The imposing site-specific, deliberately placed at an angle, welcomes the viewer making him an immediately active part in the dialogue between Super Impose Star Lily (2003-2004), Shuttle Star Lily (2005-2006) and Interactive Star (2009).

 

The first two works are among the most significant of the felt production, already exhibited at Palazzo Ducale in Sabbioneta on the occasion of the solo exhibition Dopo-Logica/o (2016), and represent the key moment in which Marsiglia, invented the UM, is freed from traditional pictorial practice, to “do painting” with other means. Felt, a ductile material, allows him to cut out the star shape by hand, and then apply it uniformly over the entire surface of the painting, as in a colored patchwork; or disseminate it freely in space to create free paths and geometries, chromatic maps that bring to the dimension of the game, thought and meditated, with almost infinite combinatorial possibilities.

The third work Interactive Star (2008-2009) is among the first digital works created by the artist, in which the static image is transformed into a dynamic device capable of interacting actively with the user, manifesting the growing desire to experiment new ways of interacting with the public. The work will also be the prelude to the numerous digital, social and architectural interaction projects developed in recent years with the use of artificial intelligence, social networks and HoloLens 2.

 

The immersive experience continues in the second room, illuminated by Wood's light, where more recent works such as Fold Screen Paper # 2 (2020) and Fold Star Black (2017), the result of research on the theme of origami and light, are placed in dialogue with Prospect (2021), the latest work by  Marsiglia which gives the exhibition its title. An unprecedented project in which the artist returns to reflecting on the Unità Marsiglia as an iconic element of his language, conceiving a luminous structure composed of a single blue neon element – realized in blown glass from Murano - inspired by the form of the four-pointed star. This luminous stellar module helps redefine the surrounding space, interacting once again with the environment through force lines and tensions that express centrality and harmony, order and structure, while at the same time seeking new perspectives and possibilities of vision: the distinguishing elements of Vincenzo Marsiglia’s entire oeuvre. 

 

The exhibition marks an important stage in Marsiglia's artistic career, after years of internationally recognized innovative projects. Among the most recent are United around a portrait, a digital project started during the lockdown on social media and subsequently transformed into digital installations presented in public spaces; Holo Private Immersion, presented by the Luca and Katia Tomassini Foundation on the occasion of the Maker Faire Rome 2020 and its participation in the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021 with the environmental work Kaleidoscope, created as part of the Buonanotte Contemporanea project.

 

On the occasion of the exhibition, the monograph Prospect will be presented, published in collaboration with Ricoh, which collects the main works of the artist's production created from 2010 to today, with an introductory text by Beatrice Audrito and Davide Sarchioni and contributions by Ennio Bianco, Annalisa Ferraro , Matteo Galbiati, Azzurra Immediate, Roberto Lacarbonara, Mario Nardo, Maria Letizia Paiato.