A Lightning bolt for the café at the Triennale: here is the work of Alice Ronchi

An installation by one of the most interesting young Italian artists for the Milan Triennale . In fact, the Triennale has selected together with Lavazza, its institutional partner, with which it shares the multidisciplinary approach of research in the visual arts, the installation Saetta (Totem) by Alice Ronchi (Ponte dell’Olio, 1989) for the space of the Triennale Café. The work will succeed other installations already on display in the museum’s cafeteria, namely GL 03 by Andrea Branzi, Under a Coffee Tree by Francis Kéré and Terra-cotta, Plastic Pots and Chai and Chinese Hibiscus by Lorenzo Vitturi. In fact, the restyling of the cafeteria, by architect Luca Cipelletti, made it possible to create a new exhibition space designed to accommodate temporary installations that enhance works dedicated to nature and sustainability.

In Alice Ronchi’s works familiar and everyday elements are revisited and transposed into the dimension of magic and wonder. In Lightning (Totem), the artist starts from an atmospheric phenomenon, dwells on its symbolic meanings - strength, speed, electricity, power, elegance - and translates its archetypal form into a totem with sculptural value. In anthropology, a totem is a natural or supernatural entity that has a particular symbolic meaning for a person and to which one feels attached for a lifetime. In this meaning, Lightning (Totem) becomes a real “presence” in space, a solitary body to be addressed and interfaced with.

Six feet tall, Saetta (Totem) is composed of five flared elliptical modules topped one above the other and is characterized by a strong simplicity of both form and construction. Each element is decomposable and made of welded iron plate and then painted. Winner of the Italian Art Trust competition, the work was created in 2021 and designed earlier that year as part of the trophy proposals for the Emilia Romagna Formula 1 Grand Prix commissioned to the artist by Pirelli and created in collaboration with Pirelli HangarBicocca.

The artist made her first thunderbolt in 2013, part of the plexiglass sculpture series We Are All Astronauts, composed of symbolic shapes from the sky. Since then Alice Ronchi has never stopped feeling a strong interest in this symbol. The artist has always been fascinated by the inherent ability of the thunderbolt to express itself with immediate power and simplicity in each of its representations, from ancient history to contemporary interpretations, of its being a container of multiple meanings, all enclosed in a single eternal and universally recognized symbol.

The installation is part of a path of promotion and enhancement of the Italian art scene launched by Triennale a few years ago, which has involved Italian artists of different generations, characterized by the ability to move with ease between different disciplines, media and techniques.

Alice Ronchi holds a bachelor’s degree from NABA - New Academy of Fine Arts in Milan and a master’s degree from the Material Utopias department of the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam. The artist has presented her work in various Italian and international exhibition spaces, institutions and museums, including: Gasconade, Milan, 2013; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, 2014; Triennale Milano, Milan, 2014; Galleria Civica di Trento, Trento, 2015; Fons Welters Gallery, Amsterdam, 2015; MACRO, Rome, 2016; Stadgalerie, Kiel, 2016; MAMbo, Bologna, 2018; MAXXI, Rome, 2019; GAM, Turin, 2020, ICA, Milan (2022). She currently teaches Sculpture at NABA in Milan and often collaborates with institutions, schools and museums to design workshops for children.

Image: Alice Ronchi, Lightning (Totem). Photo: Gianluca Di Ioia

A Lightning bolt for the café at the Triennale: here is the work of Alice Ronchi

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