Franco Accursio Gulino's most recent works on display in Palermo

From December 7, 2019 to January 12, 2020, the exhibition Corde tese e passi: recent works by Franco Accursio Gulino, curated by the Fondazione Orestiadi di Gibellina, opens in Palermo at the Regional Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. The exhibition project recounts the most recent period of Franco Accursio Gulino ’s (Sciacca, 1949) activity.

Through a selection of works from 2018 and 2019, the exhibition explores some of the constant themes of the artist’s research, highlighting his reflection on the theme of displacement, of crossing places and states of transit.

The Ferdinandea, the volcanic island that emerged in 1831 in the sea between Sciacca and Pantelleria and disappeared soon after, the bridges, the winged boats, the billboards, the wooden planks smoothed by the sea, the cardboards, the chaotic and accumulated matter are the yearning for movement, the tension toward ever different and never taken for granted landings.

Valentina Di Miceli writes in the presentation text, “Gulino is always on the move, like the refugees whose steps he narrates, in an uninterrupted human transhumance that leads to the roots of being human, transiting through times and places, through materials and techniques, reinventing himself daily. Gulino is an art stowaway, against the tide, no fashion keeps him bound to a stylistic figure, his identity lies in his path, in his resolute steps toward ever different landings, ultimately toward freedom. Gulino is a bridge, between content and matter, between art and life, between thought and image. He also paints bridges. Solid or perilous bridges, cables stretched between the beast and the superman, over dark, deep abysses, always poised toward something uncertain.”

Franco Accursio Gulino, painter, sculptor, poet, video-artist, was born in Sciacca in 1949. Since the beginning of his activity, he has received important recognitions and awards and has been involved in numerous exhibitions. The solo show Design and the Embalmer is presented in New York at theItalian Cultural Institute (1997) and the following year at The Art Gallery at Brooklyn College and at the Allen Priebe Gallery in Wisconsin.

In 1999 In/Out was presented curated by “La centrale dell’arte” in Rome at the Cantieri Culturali della Zisa in Palermo. Protagonists are now the old doors painted and reinvented by the master to suggest the theme of crossing, openness to dialogue and cultural memory. In 2000, theHerald Tribune devoted an extensive report to his project on the Ferdinandea Island; on the same cycle of works in 2001 the art video Ferdinandea l’isola pensante (pictorial works by F.A.Gulino, directed by Daniele Salvo, Co-production Municipality of Palermo and Fahrenheit 451 Teatro -Torino) was made. Of 2003 is the exhibition In medio stat virtus, curated by the Fondazione Orestiadi di Gibellina, whose presentation is by Gianluca Ranzi.

In 2007 is the Catalogo ragionato of Gulino’s works produced by the Millenium publishing house in Rome whose presentation is by critic Costanzo Costantini. In 2011, the exhibition Camminanti was inaugurated in Nairobi, Kenya, a word that collects in itself the history of migrants, illegal immigrants, men on the move and in transformation to which Gulino has dedicated his painting for more than two decades. The catalog is by Sellerio publishing house, the presentation by Carlo Bertelli. Since the early 1990s Gulino has been engaged in the creation of a mighty cycle of works dedicated to the figure of Pier Paolo Pasolini. In 2012 he exhibited in Rome in the group exhibition PPP. An Inverse Controversy. Homage to Pier Paolo Pasolini, curated by Flavio Alivernini. From 2014 is the solo exhibition Clandestini.

Passano all’asta i sogni, curated by Laura Anello, inaugurated in Palermo inside the Carceri dell’inquisizione spagnola in Palazzo Steri. In 2015 he exhibited in the group exhibition Artists of Sicily. From Pirandello to Iudice curated by Vittorio Sgarbi. Of the same year is the solo exhibition Memories. Ritratto d’artista, curated by Paola Nicita, inaugurated in Palermo at Palazzo Ziino (GAM) with a presentation by Antonella Purpura and Paolo Flores d’Arcais. In the same year he exhibited in the exhibition Eolie 1950/2015. Mare Motus.

The island in contemporary art from Sicily to Chile, curated by Lea Mattarella and Lorenzo Zichichi. In the same year, Galleria Agorà in Palermo dedicated a solo exhibition to him entitled Ecce homo curated by Stefania Giacchino. In 2016, Galleria Horti Lamiani in Rome dedicates him the solo show Passano all’asta i sogni. In 2017 he is invited to the group show Imago mundi. Rotte Mediterranee within the Biennale Arcipelago Mediterraneo in Palermo and to the group exhibition Scorrimento veloce presented by the Fondazione Orestiadi di Gibellina.

In 2018 at Spazio Contemporaneo Agorà and Spazio Edicola in Palermo he presents Black Friday, curated by Stefania Giacchino and Antony Francesco Bentivegna. In 2019 he was invited to exhibit at the 1st St. Moritz Biennial in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and in the same year works from the Black Friday cycle were shown in a solo exhibition at theHôtel de Paris in Monte-Carlo. Documentaries and Art Videos have been made about the artist, including How Many Subjects Are You? and Portrait of an Artist. Franco Accursio Gulino by Austrian director Johanna Tschautscher. Gulino’s continuous literary and pictorial production also gave rise to short films written and directed by the artist himself. His works can be found in numerous national and international public and private collections.

For all information you can visit the official website of the Regional Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Palermo.

Source: press release

Franco Accursio Gulino's most recent works on display in Palermo

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.