In Città Sant'Angelo (Pescara) Giuseppe Stampone shows us the Nature of Things.

From June 17 to Aug. 6, 2023, the Museolaboratorio - Ex Manifattura Tabacchi in Città Sant’Angelo (Pescara) will present the project La natura delle cose (The Nature of Things ) by artist Giuseppe Stampone, winner of the PAC2021 - Plan for Contemporary Art promoted by the Ministry of Culture’s General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity.

The title refers to the six-book philosophical poem by Lucretius, written in 50 B.C., in which the Latin poet outlines the molecular constitution of the universe, the soul and its destiny, the fear of death and the individual characteristics of human beings (body, senses, thought and love). The last two books are devoted to the creation of the world, including natural phenomena such as weather systems and the development of civilization. In this work Lucretius seeks to place humanity in a broader and more universal context, investigating man’s place in the natural world, both at the molecular and astrological levels.

Stampone started from this starting point to create the project La natura delle cose (The Nature of Things): about sixty works - including photographs, drawings and a video installation - designed to stimulate a reflection on the landscape and the “place” that man occupies in relation to the planet on which he lives.

The artist returned to two places dear to him, Gran Sasso and Maiella, in Abruzzo, elevating them to a paradigm of this idea. During long walks, Stampone personally took a series of photographs of the mountains and then made graphite drawings of them. The intent of the process was to create an archive of images for future generations, who, because of man’s lack of care for the planet, risk seeing the habitat in which they live changed forever. It is now scientifically proven that land consumption, pollution and the unbridled exploitation of natural resources are having tragic and almost irreversible effects on the very fragile ecosystems.

Departing from the main modes of operation of the works of recent years (the artist has often taken images from the Internet to make his works), in this new project Stampone has chosen to personally use the camera with the intention of rediscovering the affective value of the portrayed subjects, his identity and his origins. After drawing the mountains reproduced in photos, the artist put the original images into Photoshop to obtain the numerical references of the Pantone colors of the snapshots, thus comparing the graphite of the drawings (the natural) with the chemical colors used to make the prints; as industrial colors, created to imitate nature, the hues were then juxtaposed with the images of nature to blur the boundaries between natural and artificial elements.

The entire process was documented in the video on display in the exhibition, which chronicles the project stage by stage: from the artist’s high-altitude excursions, to the creation of the photographic shots, the production of the drawings, and the selection of the Pantones. The video, entitled Gran Sassa, was made in collaboration with artist Maria Crispal, the artist’s life and work partner.

This interest in industrial processes can be read as a desire of the man/artist to imitate nature, but also as an attempt to master it that nullifies our sense of precariousness and limitation. Graphite, on the other hand, is a material that implies a precise-not deceptive-relationship with time, and a choice of the author; drawing is a process that nurtures reflection and helps to reformulate our relationship with time; working with pencil does not allow the process of making a drawing to be accelerated; using graphite is thus Stampone’s chosen way of opposing the accelerated pace of life today.

Gran Sasso and Maiella, “Stampone’s mountains,” are both autobiographical and universal. They are images that the artist carries within himself, linked to his identity and memories, but also mythical iconographies, figures that inspire awe and monumentality. In this work, the mountains have given substance to the artist’s reflections, who has returned to his childhood places in an attempt to trace a deeper connection with things; for us as observers, the work is an opportunity to rethink our role in the world through art, ethics, and a sense of responsibility toward our host environment and other living beings.

Giuseppe Stampone was born in Cluses, France, in 1974 and lives and works between Teramo, Brussels, and Rome. His production ranges from multimedia installations and videos to drawings made with the Bic pen, a technique common to many of his projects. From his idea was born Solstice Project (www.solstizio.org), made in collaboration with theEuropean Union and developed in several countries. Since 2002 he has collaborated with artist and life partner Maria Crispal, with whom he shares the Global Education and Solstice Project.

Stampone teaches at theAcademy of Fine Arts in Bologna and collaborates with universities and academies such as IULM in Milan, Federico II in Naples and the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology in Toronto. He develops research and experimentation interventions in art and new media with Alberto Abruzzese and Derrick De Kerckhove. He is an associate member of theAmerican Academy in Rome and the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in New York. In 2020, he is the first Italian winner of the residency at Villa Romana in Florence, funded by Deutsche Bank. In 2013, with L’ABC del Bel Paese, he won the first edition of the “Pacco d’Artista” Award promoted by Poste Italiane. His works have been exhibited at: 59th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, Cuba Pavilion (2022); London Design Biennale (2021); 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, South Korea Pavilion (20219; Villa Romana, Florence (2021); CIAC Museum, Foligno (2018); Seoul Architecture Biennale (2017); Ostend Triennial (2017); Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum, Boston (2016); 56th Venice International Art Biennale (2015); Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri, Ex Seccatoi del Tabacco and Palazzo Vitelli a Sant’Egidio, Città di Castello (PG) as part of thepart of the exhibition Au rendez-vous des Amis (2015); GAMeC - Galleria D’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo (2014); Calcografia Nazionale - Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, Rome (2014); Palazzo Reale, Milan (2014); Museo Archeologico, Ascoli (2013); Liverpool Biennial (2010); Kochi-Muziris Biennial, Kerala, India (2012); 11th Havana Biennial (2012); 14th and 15th Quadriennale d’Arte, Rome (2004-2008); Kunsthalle Art Museum, Gwangju, South Korea; Wifredo Lam Contemporary Center, Havana; MAXXI - Museo Nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome; MACRO, Rome; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin. Solo exhibitions in public spaces include: Personale connettivo, MAC, Lissone (2022); Nel blu dipinto at the Marca Corona company in Sassuolo, with text by Leonardo Caffo (2022); Due generazioni a confronto: Giuseppe Stampone and Ugo La Pietra, CIAC Museum, Foligno (2018); Odio gli indifferenti, Calcografia Nazionale, Rome (2014); Giuseppe Stampone l’ABC dell’arte nei confini sociali del gioco, Palazzo Reale, Milan (2014); Bic Data Blue, GAMeC, Bergamo (2014); Private Collections, L’Arca - Laboratorio per le arti contemporanee, Teramo (2012); Archeologia contemporanea. Giuseppe Stampone and Eugenio Tibaldi, Archaeological Museum, Ascoli Piceno (2013); A Flavio/Giuseppe Stampone and Manfredi Beninati, Museolaboratorio, Città Sant’Angelo (2007); Giuseppe Stampone: technology of the self, Pinacoteca Civica, Teramo (2006). His works are in the collections: Mfah Museum of Fine Arts Houston; MAXXI, Rome; GAMeC, Bergamo; Calcografia Nazionale - Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, Rome; Biennale of Sydney; Kochi Biennale Foundation; Wifredo Lam Center, Havana; Artnexus Foundation, Bogotá.

For all information, you can visit Museolaboratorio’s official website.

Ph. credit: Giuseppe Stampone

In Città Sant'Angelo (Pescara) Giuseppe Stampone shows us the Nature of Things.

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