Frammenti di inediti paesaggi

From September 16th to 30th, 2021, La Fonderia Art Gallery in Florence will host Frammenti di inediti paesaggi (Fragments of Unprecedented Landscapes), a solo exhibition by Cristina Materassi, winner of the Whatsart prize—a competition for emerging artists promoted by the gallery through the Fondente project. The purpose of the latter is to express and enhance the value of the territory and its excellence through contemporary art.

Cristina Materassi is a young Tuscan artist who has been living and working in Turin for some time. The exhibition Frammenti di inediti paesaggi centers on the concept of belonging to lived places. The artist’s research stems from the concept of inhabiting a place, searching for elements of daily life within the mystery of an unknown landscape in which to recreate known spaces and territories. In this way, Materassi creates a new geography—an unfamiliar map made of fragments of new, old, and imaginary landscapes. Inhabiting a new and different space, appropriating it through her own personal experiences and through the search for something familiar, allows the artist to give life to an unprecedented landscape and a new geography of the mind. This is the fil rouge underlying Frammenti di inediti paesaggi, which also features an installation that physically represents the geographical location of four parks in Turin. This artwork, accompanied by sounds intended to recreate the evocative atmosphere of the parks, simulates three paths—or possible walks—around the explored spaces, with the aim of immersing the viewer into Materassi’s art.

Furthermore, numerous small-scale works are presented, akin to snippets of landscapes—frames of meticulously mapped places aimed at finding familiar shapes even within unknown territories. Every single artwork possesses a life of its own; each captures a different impression, distinct moments, and glimpses of larger spaces that come together to reconstruct a further space—one that is non-physical, yet no less real.