On view 14 works, spread between the gardens and the first floor of the Sabauda Gallery
Mystery surrounds the words “asa nisi masa”, written in chalk on a blackboard in one of the most memorable scenes of 8 e ½, the cult classic by Federico Fellini. The phrase, born from the imagination of Guido Anselmi (played by Marcello Mastroianni), transcribed by a grotesque magician, repeated and mimed in childhood memory by his little cousin, not only stars in one of the most beautiful visions in cinema history but has inspired decades of speculation about its meaning, passing from character to character without ever revealing itself. The decision to title Giuseppe Maraniello’s exhibition at the Musei Reali in Turin with this phrase ties into that elusive, intangible quality refusal to be pinned down by a single, narrow definition, too restrictive for the deep originality of his work.
The title of the exhibition, “asa nisi masa”, is a quote from Fellini’s film 8 e ½ and seems to allude to the act of escaping a single, definitive interpretation
As Sandro Parmiggiani notes in his interview with Maraniello in the catalogue (published by Polistampa), his works “seem like something related to a musical composition: they have a secret rhythm, with bursts of intensity, pauses, and reprises, a continuous tension between breaking an equilibrium and building a harmony.” Thus, until September 16th, 14 works by the master, spread across the gardens and the first floor of the Sabauda Gallery, resist easy interpretations and play with the enigma suspended between matter, myth, and memory. The environmental works, sculptures, and mosaics featured in the exhibition (curated by Francesco Tedeschi, produced by Nicola Loi – Studio Copernico, Milan) animate the museum spaces, imbued with the voice of the artist, Neapolitan by origin, internationally renowned. A professor at the Brera Academy, Maraniello has participated in major exhibitions including the Venice Biennale in 1990. He works with wax and metal guided by instinct, and skillfully handles bronze, marble, wood, fiberglass, and found objects, shaping recurring figures such as tightrope walkers, divers, demons, jugglers, devils, centaurs, alembics, and canteens. It is a dreamlike dimension where imagination takes flight with elegance and balance.
For Parmiggiani, Maraniello’s works “resemble something akin to a musical composition, with a secret rhythm of their own”
Among the highlights of the exhibition are The arch (2008), an impressive work standing over 13 meters tall, The nest (1994), an archetype of protection in a suspended universe, and The cat sleeps in a circle (2009), a window into the unconscious and the portal through which sleep accesses the soul’s childhood perceptions. Also on view is Communicating vessels (1993), a major installation over twenty-four meters long, one of the most significant in his prolific output, expressing, through solids and voids, metamorphosis and form, the continuity of heterogeneous elements across time, in dialogue with the space that hosts it.
On view is also The Cat Sleeps in a Circle (2009), a window into the unconscious and the way sleep grants access to childhood perceptions imprinted on the soul
Giuseppe Maraniello
asa nisi masa
Turin
Musei Reali
Curated by
Francesco Tedeschi
Catalog polistampa
Texts
Francesco Tedeschi
Sandro Parmiggiani
Michele Giuliano Cipolla
Production
Nicola Loi – Studio Copernico, Milan
