BORDERS, FRONTIERS, LIMITS

Confini, Frontiere, Limiti (Borders, Frontiers, Limits), the new exhibition project, is conceived and realised on the basis of an authentic experience to be consumed within a physical space - the room, the rooms - where the visitor is called upon to question himself, reflect and interact directly with the works. The absolute protagonists are the scenarios of contemporary life dominated by shifting geographies and borders, by wars, by fluctuating, uncertain and fragile political, social and economic arrangements. It begins with the visual and real contact of a wall, in the centre of the first room, a pregnant symbol of the many dividing lines of past and present history that have divided, torn, bloodied continents, lands and peoples. On the sides of the room, Moreno Biasi composes an authentic mosaic of portraits in which parade the effigies of those who have determined the material construction of barbed wire barriers on the earth's surface. The clear, summarising sign, innervated with pop declinations and a strongly narrative chromatic use, delivers an iconic compendium of faces, eyes and characters to which it is difficult to remain indifferent.

But there are more than just glances: from the cracks in the wall in the room one can glimpse video sequences shot in some border areas documenting violence, abuse, indiscriminate acts of force. The artistic dimension becomes denunciation and conscience, it questions the visitor, issues a challenge, calls for a reaction. In the second exhibition room, another central wall rules the scene: it is a wall composed of full-length characters playing different roles. They have no faces, or rather: there is a mirror that allows the viewer to interface and assume different appearances and positions. Why this apparent game? It is explained by the portraits that surround the room and that speak to us, according to our author, of a humanity marked by prejudice, fierce criticism, discrimination, mockery.

Borders not as visible as barbed wire fences, but equally capable of creating islands of demarcation, atolls of suffering, pain and marginalisation. If there can be a solution or an answer, this, according to the artist, lies mainly in respect, in the acceptance of the other, in the willingness to welcome diversity. ‘Respect’: a word that indicates attention, esteem, the pleasure of encounter.

This is why the entrance to the third exhibition room is through a windbreak door that bears the words ‘Respect’ to suggest that education in respect is an arduous conquest that must be built every day because ‘the lack of respect is at the root of the violence exercised daily against women, minorities, institutions, nature and the animal world’ (Valeria Della Valle and Giuseppe Patota, co-editors of the Vocabolario Treccani). In this room there are portraits of famous and common personalities, including friends of the painter himself, who act as interpreters and spokespersons for an important message: each of us is unique and deserves respect, interest and dedication.