Christian Zucconi's unpublished sculptures on display in Piacenza's former Teresian church

Until June 30, 2024, theformer church of the Teresiane in Piacenza is home to the solo exhibition of Christian Zucconi (Piacenza, 1978), Waiting for the Darkness, curated by Manuel Ferrari.

Closed to the public for decades, the former church of the Teresiane is an architectural jewel of the 18th century, and on the occasion of the exhibition it has been exceptionally reopened to the public to accommodate the artist’s previously unseen sculptures. In fact, the exhibition brings together almost all of the works created by Zucconi over the past five years, a period in which since the 2019 Madonna of Absence Zucconi has transformed his aesthetic approach. His reflection on humanity and its depths has led him to conceive figures with closed eyes, which seem to implode on emptiness, opening like rose petals to exhale their last breath.

Through the transition from the physical absence of an inner structure to the metaphysical absence of an inner structure, Zucconi leads a profound reflection on the perception of emptiness that pervades the moral, religious, philosophical and existential world of contemporary man. This absence is interpreted as a nostalgic retreat into an unbridgeable absence.

In the former Teresian church, an architectural jewel with a central plan in a single hall built in the 18th century for enclosure, this series of works will be exhibited for the first time. The poetic commentaries accompanying the works, although inspired by the night, are not intended to tell a specific story, but rather to evoke the state of mind in which they were conceived. Similarly, the sound commentary, enriched by Lorena Nocera’s voice, recalls the prayers and litanies that have resounded under the church’s dome for so long, creating a suspended atmosphere in which the moon’s glow slowly emerges from the shadows, bringing the sculptures to light and offering an experience of contemplation and reflection.

The exhibition then continues in the exhibits wheel room, where a video made by Greta di Lorenzo documents the process of creating Song of the Leaves, completed only a few weeks before the exhibition opened. In this section, visitors can fully immerse themselves in the rhythms and sounds that accompany the working of the marble. Zucconi now takes a different approach, no longer working in direct cut, but starting from a live model. The goal is not so much to give verisimilitude to the figures, but rather to capture their naturalness, even in their distortions. With the exception of Madonna of Absence, all the works on display are modeled on Lorenzo’s companion Greta, which lends itself to lengthy live cast sessions.

Starting with the plaster model and using the traditional “three-point” technique, the artist proceeds to transpose it into Persian red travertine, a layered limestone material characterized by holes, openings and breaks, but enriched by crystalline concretions. The finished works seem to emancipate themselves from their starting point and, despite their physical heaviness, rotate with extreme lightness on the steel axis, becoming metaphors for both flesh and spirit.

Focusing on absence, remembrance and twilight, the exhibition is meant to be a tribute to the figures who over the years have played a significant role in Christian Zucconi’s life and artistic journey. This creates a continuous dialogue between past and present, life and death, which permeates the entire exhibition.

Sculptures, photographs, poetic and sound commentary are by Christian Zucconi. Voice by Lorena Nocera. Sound by Gian Luca Capelli. Video by Greta di Lorenzo. Catalog Editions Tip.Le.Co.

The exhibition has the patronage of the Municipality of Piacenza, and the technical support of IRAN MARBLE - Onyx and travertine, Carrara; NEREO TRABACCHI - Tooling, Piacenza; MANDELLI COLORI - Systems and technologies in color for construction, Piacenza; BIOTEK LAB - Chemical products, Piacenza.

Hours: Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Special opening Saturday, June 15 from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, June 22 from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the occasion of “Open for you under the Stars” organized by the Italian Touring Club. Free admission.

Notes on the artist

Born in Piacenza in 1978, Christian Zucconi initially trained between the Emilian countryside and the parsonage of Campremoldo Sotto, where in an environment still rich in ancient traditions and folklore he approached the sacred and its representation; later he continued his apprenticeship between the quarries of Carrara and the “Gazzola” Art Institute under the direction of Paolo Perotti and the advice of Piero Molinari. Having completed the “Cassinari” Art School with top marks, he left the Brera Academy and opened his own workshop in 1996. In 2003 he began his collaboration with Alain Toubas’s Compagnia del Disegno, which, in addition to organizing important public exhibitions, was an important reference figure for him until his death in 2021. Today he lives and works in his beloved Colli Piacentini.

Christian Zucconi's unpublished sculptures on display in Piacenza's former Teresian church

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