Isgrò and his relationship with philosophy. 47 works with unpublished works on display in Carpi.

From September 15 to December 10, 2023, Palazzo dei Pio in Carpi is hosting, on the occasion of Festivalfilosofia 2023, the exhibition Emilio Isgrò - Sillogismo del cavallo, curated by Chiara Gatti and Marco Bazzini and produced by the Municipality of Carpi - Musei di Palazzo dei Pio, with the contribution of Fondazione Cassa Risparmio di Carpi and the collaboration of the Emilio Isgrò Archive.

The exhibition brings together forty-seven works all related to the world of philosophy, testifying to Isgrò’s intense relationship with philosophy since the 1960s. To these is added the series dedicated to Pico della Mirandola with the twenty-volume cancellation of the Conclusiones made in 2014 and on this occasion exhibited in the Palazzo dei Pio.

The theme of this year’s Festivalfilosofia, Parola, aligns perfectly with the poetics of Emilio Isgrò, an artist who has made word and erasure his personal expression. Through the gesture (of only apparent) removal, Isgrò has devised a creative formula that has shaken the art system since the 1960s. Indeed, it was in 1964 when he began making his first works by intervening on texts and other printed materials by manually covering large portions of them. And, indirectly, by enhancing those that remained. The same procedure applied to the forty-seven works in the exhibition, with the particularity that these deal with purely philosophical subjects. Through a selection ranging from 1966 to the present, the exhibition is distributed along the large loggia following the path indicated by the large initial canvas White Arrow in a Black Field.

Next on display are the Deleted Conclusiones of Pico della Mirandola, a humanist who had numerous political and professional relationships with Carpi, so much so that his nephew Alberto III Pio, son of his sister Caterina Pico (a portrait of him and his brother deleted is also on display), was the last Lord and then Count of the city from 1480 to 1527. The exhibition then continues with a selection of works related to Greek philosophy, with “erased” texts by Plato, Aristotle, Archimedes and Heraclitus. Here the Discobolus statue-Roman copy-stands out, along with the previously unpublished Plutarch Plutarque (a nineteen-volume work from 1973) and especially Sillogism of the Horse, the new work the artist conceived for the occasion and which also gives the exhibition its title. Finally, the exhibition concludes with a nucleus of works related to modern philosophy, where the doctrines of Hegel, Sartre and Benedetto Croce are elided.

The philosophical content of the works, reduced to sentences, precepts and aphorisms, further emphasizes the intrinsic value of erasure. An action that leads one to reflect on what is worth more: what has been erased or how much is still visible?

On the occasion of the exhibition, a catalog will be produced by Franco Cosimo Panini Editore that will explore the proposed theme with essays by the curators, a talk by philosopher Silvano Petrosino, who will also hold a conversation with the master at the festival, and a writing by Isgrò.

Hours: Sept. 15 and 16, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sept. 17, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. From Sept. 19: Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday and holidays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Tickets: Sept. 15-16-17 free admission. From Sept. 19 full ticket 8 euros, 5 euros reduced.

Image: Emilio Isgrò, Syllogism of the Horse, detail (2023; acrylic on canvas print mounted on wood; work consisting of two elements, each element 200 x 160 cm; private collection)

Isgrò and his relationship with philosophy. 47 works with unpublished works on display in Carpi.

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