Affioramenti refers to the concept of historical discovery, as well as geological discovery. The approach that Alice has to her work has also been reproposed for this profound project in which she entered on tiptoe by talking with the locals, visiting places and experimenting with techniques.
What is a valley if not a landscape, rivers and stones? The stones here are not only a testimony to the passing of geological eras, but also to the passage of disappeared civilizations, like how the Stele Statues that still resurface today in various points of the valley remind us.
After the stones, Alice moves on to an analysis and synthesis of the landscape, which is condensed into natural pigments that are inspired by the colors found in the De Paoli herbarium. The natural pigments are spread with slow gestures on the local sandstone. Natural wool threads that are hand-spun, dyed with the colors deriving from seasonal leaves and flowers of the valley, run and tie the sandstone together.
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Permanent works:
Alice Cattaneo, Affioramenti, 2021, installation, local "arenaria" stone, natural wool threads, natural pigments, wooden supports, environmental dimensions.
Campo Ligure (GE), Liguria
Alice Cattaneo, Affioramenti, 2021, Castello Spinola, Campo Ligure (GE), Liguria. Ph. Nuvola Ravera
Alice Cattaneo, Affioramenti, 2021, Castello Spinola, Campo Ligure (GE), Liguria. Ph. Nuvola Ravera
Alice Cattaneo, Affioramenti, 2021, Castello Spinola, Campo Ligure (GE), Liguria. Ph. Nuvola Ravera
Alice Cattaneo, Affioramenti, 2021, Castello Spinola, Campo Ligure (GE), Liguria. Ph. Nuvola Ravera
Alice Cattaneo, Affioramenti, 2021, Castello Spinola, Campo Ligure (GE), Liguria. Ph. Nuvola Ravera
Alice Cattaneo, Affioramenti, 2021, Castello Spinola, Campo Ligure (GE), Liguria. Ph. Nuvola Ravera
Alice Cattaneo, Affioramenti, 2021, Castello Spinola, Campo Ligure (GE), Liguria. Ph. Nuvola Ravera
Alice Cattaneo, Affioramenti, 2021, Castello Spinola, Campo Ligure (GE), Liguria. Ph. Nuvola Ravera
“AFFIORAMENTI” REFERS TO THE CONCEPT OF HISTORICAL DISCOVERY, SUCH AS THAT OF THE STELE STATUES OR OF THE ILLUSTRATED HERBARIUM, AND TO THE IDEA OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, OF THE APPEARANCE ON THE SURFACE, FROM THE SUBSOIL, OF A PART OF A ROCK LAYER. THE SCULPTURES MADE OF LOCAL SANDSTONE SHOW SOME DUALITIES: STONE AND STRATIFICATION, PIGMENT AND VOLATILITY
For Alice Cattaneo (Milan, 1976) the tension or relaxation determined by the materials that she uses for her sculptures and installations are fundamental: everyone has their own parameters of attraction and repulsion that combine and fit together. She wants to go back to the origins of making sculpture to get to the point where sculpture becomes just a thought. In 2017, selected by the Museo del Novecento in Milan, she won the Level 0 award at Art Verona. In 2019, she inaugurated the exhibition project Tra-secolare at the Archaeological Museum of Acqui Terme and in 2008, she exhibited at the MADRE Museum in Naples.
WHAT IS A VALLEY IF NOT A LANDSCAPE, RIVERS AND STONES? THE STONES HERE ARE NOT ONLY A TESTIMONY TO THE PASSING OF GEOLOGICAL ERAS, BUT ALSO TO THE PASSAGE OF DISAPPEARED CIVILIZATIONS, LIKE HOW THE STELE STATUES THAT STILL RESURFACE TODAY IN VARIOUS POINTS OF THE VALLEY REMIND US
Campo Ligure is a village of 2,951 inhabitants located in the Stura valley, in the province of Genoa, which is 25 km away, in Liguria. One of the Borghi Più Belli d’Italia since 2011, it is globally recognized as the National Center of Filigree, a goldsmith’s art resulting from great craftsmanship, with a museum dedicated to the collections from Europe, Asia and Africa and Latin America, in the historic Palazzo di Giustizia. This place is linked to the history of the seventeenth-century painter Bernardo Strozzi, author of the «Martyrdom of St. Lucia» in the Parish Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. The Spinola Castle with its majestic tower 22 meters high, is externally in the shape of a hexagon: still perfectly preserved, it dates back to around the 12th-13th century.