By Mattia Nocchi
A temporary exhibition by the artist Nicolò Tomaini at the Museo Civico – Pinacoteca Crociani in Montepulciano that investigates the impact of modern technologies on contemporary society. From 22 November 2024 until 3 February 2025.
The exhibition “The Great Illusion” set up at the Crociani Civic Museum – Pinacoteca in Montepulciano, offers a visual and conceptual exploration of the reflections of the artist Tomaini on the impact of modern technologies on contemporary society. Tomaini, born in 1989 in the province of Lecco, stands out for an artistic language that analyses the way in which communication technologies and technological progress influence human relationships, the perception of reality and the role of the living being within an increasingly virtualized world. The exhibition is organized by the Municipality of Montepulciano, in collaboration with Leogalleries (Monza) a contemporary art gallery with an important focus on the Futurist current. Curators of the exhibition Roberto Longi, Filippo Mollea Ceirano and Ettore Bossi.
Tomaini’s Opera.
For over fifteen years, Tomaini’s research has focused on the effects of technology on everyday life and society, with particular attention to “communication technologies”. His works reflect the way in which the image often supplants reality, creating alienating dynamics for the human being. The body, although absent in visual representations, is an implicit recipient, a symbolic presence always at the centre of the transformations represented. The artist constructs, with meticulous attention and hyper-realistic techniques, distressing scenarios that evoke the removal, absorption and virtualization of the body within a social system dominated by pseudo-communication.
Tomaini’s visual suggestions are constructed by resorting to all the means of expression considered from time to time most suitable for arousing critical reflection without conceding anything to the flattery of a captivating aesthetic, according to the canons of the spirit fixed from the beginning – precisely – by the avant-garde, can be considered in many ways a critical balance, about a century after the first Futurist manifesto, of the expectations and illusions germinated in that context and in that historical passage.
Exhibition Itinerary and Works Presented.
The exhibition develops through about forty works, of which about twenty are unpublished, offering an overview of Tomaini’s artistic evolution and the themes that characterize his work. The series on display include:
- The “Uploads” and the “Silicon”: Works that intervene on old paintings to portray processes of transformation and erasure, flanked by digital codes that symbolically destroy the original image.
- The “Teatrini”: Assemblages of elements of Sicilian puppets with fragments of computer codes, represent an interaction between tradition and digitization, suggesting a virtual replacement of reality.
- The “Lights without Landscape”: Old fragmented paintings juxtaposed with their digital reproductions, connected through imaginary cables, symbolize the domination of the virtual image over the original.
- The “Illusionist Portraits”: The electronic components of the first computers emerge from ancient canvases, corroding and destabilizing them, in an evocation of the conflict between past and future.
To accompany the visitor on this path of reflection, the exhibition also includes sculptural installations distributed on the various floors of the museum. Some sculptures have also been installed in some schools in the Municipality of Montepulciano, in order to create a link and motivation for the younger generations.
Message and Critical Reflection.
Tomaini’s poetics concedes nothing to a captivating aesthetic; rather, it calls attention to what is removed or distorted in contemporary reality. His silent denunciation, through the creation of highly critical images and scenarios, arises from the sense of bewilderment and alienation characteristic of the current generation. “The Great Illusion” is not only an investigation of technology, but a critique of the idea that the virtual can become a complete replacement of human reality, transforming the individual into a passive object, devoid of authentic meaning and absorbed by the virtual dynamic.
Info: The exhibition is organized by the Municipality of Montepulciano, in collaboration with LeoGalleries, a contemporary art gallery with an important focus on the Futurist current. The curators are Roberto Longi, Filippo Mollea Ceirano and Ettore Bossi – and will be held at the Museo Civico – Pinacoteca Crociani, via Ricci 10, Montepulciano (Si). It will be inaugurated on Friday 22 November at 17:00 and will last until 3 February 2025.
Opening hours: until 19 December 2024, open only on Saturdays and Sundays, from 10.00 to 18.00. From 20 December 2024 to 6 January 2025, the Museum will be open every day, from 10.00 to 18.00, with the exception of Tuesdays, 25 December 2024 and 1 January 2025. From 7 January to 31 March 2025 the Museum will be open only on Saturdays and Sundays from 10.00 to 18.00.
Contacts: www.museocivicomontepulciano.it / info@museocivicomontepulciano.it / Tel: +39 0578 757341
