Artistic practices and techniques of the past are being brought back to life through the works of four Italo-Australian artists who, following in the footsteps of their Parallel Visions project launched in 2020, are continuing their innovative creative contributions, now being showcased in the group exhibition, In Parallel.
In this collaborative show, Anna Caione, Wilma Tabacco, Liliana Barbieri and Sarina Lirosi are showcasing their own artistic merits, and doubly, continuing the legacies of some of the fathers of Italian art and design: Bruno Munari, Gaetano Pesce, Alessandro Mendini and Giò Pomodoro.
In 2020, the four Italo-Australian artists worked closely alongside designer and curator Karen Fermo, as well as with Flavia Marcello, an associate professor at Swinburne University, to provide the public with a showcase of contemporary responses to, and reinterpretations of, works by iconic Italian designers and visual artists.
Unfortunately, after a year of preparations for the exhibition’s installation, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic initially prohibited public visitation of the exhibition.
“I remember how in 2020, the day after the exhibition’s opening, the lockdown was announced,” key player Anna Caione said, “and so, almost nobody has really had the chance to attend Parallel Visions.”
And it is for this very reason that, during those ceaseless days passed in forced isolation, the artists involved had the idea of making a new request to the Council Gallery to exhibit their works again. After gaining the approval of the selection committee, Parallel Visions was finally made accessible to patrons at Hawthorn’s Town Hall Gallery.
The exhibition opened on Saturday August 13, and present alongside the works of the four Italo-Australian artists were the photographic reproductions of Flavia Marcello, depicting the birthplace of Italian design, Milan, and the curatorial stylings of Karen Fermo, whose work takes cues from the removable and itinerant exhibition system of Giuseppe Pagano.
Now, the artistic journey continues in a space made available by Co.As.It. on Faraday Street, where each of the four artists is presenting a showcase containing their respective work.
For this new exhibition, each of the artists has chosen an Italian artist as a creative correspondent, interpreting their work in their own unique way, taking into account their personal artistic vision and individual creative strengths.
“The Italian designer I am referencing is Gaetano Pesce; for Liliana Barbieri it’s Bruno Munari; for Wilma Tabacco it’s Giò Pomodoro and for Sarina Lirosi it’s Alessandro Mendini,” Caione explained. “It is a very subjective exhibition, not only for the public but also for us artists with strong ties to the design of the Bel Paese, and to our individual experiences in the field.”
Caione proceeded to say that she chose to interpret Gaetano Pesce not because he is her favourite, but because of his work’s striking refusal to be confined to any one predefined category or art movement.
“Pesce can’t be thought of solely as an architect, a designer, or as an ideologist, but can be defined as a ‘creative’. In fact, his work correlates immensely to human emotions. If you consider, for example, La Mamma Chair, which is part of a seven-piece furniture set, you can see how it is closely modelled after the feminine form,” Caione said.
“His very purposeful use of materials and consideration of how his objects occupy a space have also always amazed me. Rather than creating an expanding object, however, I have done the opposite, creating a small case that contains it.”
With her parents hailing from Palena, in the Abruzzo region, Caione remembers perfectly the women that first inspired her and encouraged her to enter the art world.
First and foremost, her older sister, who has always worked with ceramics, and also two high school teachers, respectively of Years 10 and 11, who acquainted her with the various approaches of the art world, and with whom she has maintained close contact to this day.
The works of Caione and her colleagues, Tabacco, Barbieri and Lirosi, will be exhibited at Co.As.It. until September 28. For those interested in attending the inaugural evening, the date is August 23 from 6:30pm to 8pm. On September 3 and 24 there will be an opportunity to meet and speak directly with the artists.
For information regarding any of the aforementioned events be sure to register here.
