His latest work reflects the duality of man in modern society, through the figure of the clown, and how alien we are to ourselves.
The half-figure of a clown who is completed only by reflecting his own image in a mirror, leads to an exploration of the duality that is inherent in man, between what he shows to the world and what he hides, remaining "everywhere a stranger to himself in the dance of existence".
This is the work “La danza dell’abisso” – a resin sculpture on mirror (2024) – with which the Pompeian artist Nello Petrucci takes part in the 60th edition of the International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (20 April – 24 November 2024).
The artistic event, among the most prestigious in the world, this year focuses on the theme “Foreigners Everywhere”. Petrucci’s work is included (along with those of eleven other international artists) in the project “No man is an island” of the Grenada Pavilion curated by Adriano Pedrosa. The curator, inspired by the verses of the poet John Donne, reflects on the theme of the strangeness of each individual, who through knowing the other becomes part of a community.
Petrucci fits into this reflection with the work “La danza dell'Abisso”, which uses the highly symbolic figures of the clown and the mirror. The clown protagonist of the sculpture, chosen by Petrucci as an ironic and philosophical emblem at the same time, is a metaphor for human existence, as he himself states: «Despite the masks we may wear, we are “everywhere strangers” to ourselves in the dance of existence».
If the clown is a contradictory figure, which well expresses the facets of the human personality, the mirror leads the visitor to reflect on himself and his own complex interiority. It visually represents the division within man, between what he shows to the outside world and what he hides. The work will be visible until November 24, 2024 at the Grenada Pavilion of the 60th edition of the International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
Article published on 23 April 2024 - 11:30
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