Gian Maria Tosatti Unearths a Gateway from Catastrophe to Catharsis Inside NOw/here

Curated by Vicente Todolí, alongside dramatic lighting design from the skilled mind of Pasquale Mari, “NOw/here” brilliantly combines two bodies of work: "Portraits" (2022) and "NOw/here" (2023), for a bold and lustrous juxtaposition of meanings and materials. The "Portraits" series is made up of four paintings uniting rust and gold in an energetic fusion of oxidation and corrosion. Presented on iron panels atop powerful tube and clamp structures, the works evoke an inciting of violence, an explosion, and a searing, everlasting burn. Tosatti expertly layers the traditions of Byzantine mosaics, the gold backdrops of 13th and 14th-century panel works, and cutting-edge Italian artists of the 1970s—such as Luciano Fabro, Jannis Kounellis, and Gino De Dominicis—with the fiery, complex spirit of modern civilization. 

Within the quiet eye of the storm, the ten "NOw/here" artworks of white charcoal and graphite are suspended from the ceiling, creating an ephemeral, silver-toned landscape where tiny bright spheres offer hope and the promise of rebirth and renewal. Tosatti’s ongoing research of the human condition and expression throughout evolution, framed in the wake of prominent current events, produces a compelling, artistic view of our zeitgeist, and warmly encourages visitor participation. 

Throughout the show, which places the audience at the intersection of the historical, the industrial, and the emotional, the artist poses a challenging investigation of mind, body, and soul: “Right from the title, whose pronunciation differs depending on the perspective chosen by the reader, the exhibition is an invitation to delve into an environment that seems to pose an open, simple, intimate question to those who cross its threshold: ‘how do you feel?’”