Novara, at Castello Visconteo an exhibition of illustrators reading the territory

Entitled Traces of Water. Drawing and Landscape from the Lake to the Rice Field the exhibition that, through the works of twelve artists and illustrators (Cristina Amodeo, Alicia Baladan, Elena Beatrice, Sylvie Bello, Daniele Catalli, Federica Galli, Pierluigi Longo, Maina Mainardi, Antonio Marinoni, Antonio Mascia, Simone Mostacci, Guido Persico), from September 18 to 26 in Novara, at the Castello Visconteo Sforzesco, intends to tell the story of the Novara area through the theme ofwater, the core around which the exhibition is built. Dialoguing in this way are works and landscapes, each crossed, shaped and drawn by water. Each of the artists in the exhibition has chosen the subject to interpret and explore, following his or her own style: the plain, among farmsteads, history, traditions and rice fields; the hills, among vineyards and wine; and the lake, with the island of San Giulio and the historic Villa Nigra in Miasino, one of the most beautiful public villas on Lake Orta, a historical-artistic asset and the beating heart of cultural activities.

All the artists created original panels for the occasion, with some of them being involved in an art residency program in the Novara area. Antonio Mascia made some of his postcards, a project he started exactly 40 years ago, in 1981, called Il Cartoliniere D.O.C. (Documenting, Observing, Communicating). Each design has been mailed and bears a stamp and postmark. Pierluigi Longo and Guido Persico were taken on a tour of farmsteads, wineries and agritourisms. Longo recounts the magic of flooded rice fields illuminated by the moon, a star transformed into a dreamy and magical heron’s eye. Persico paints the majestic Cascina Caccia in Borgolavezzaro, once home to hundreds of mondine women, as well as the charm of Antonellian Villa Caccia in Romagnano Sesia.

The artists also include Federica Galli, a leading engraver and aquafortist in Italian graphic art. The great art critic Giovanni Testori coined the title “engraver” for her, confirming her in her own right as one of the most deserving Italian exponents in the international world of 20th-century graphic art. Galli passed away in 2009, but her rural landscapes, trees, views of rice fields, and reflections of water continue to speak to us. Today a foundation bearing her name and preserving her artistic heritage can be visited in the heart of Milan. Also on display are drawings by young students from the "Felice Casorati" Art School in Romagnano Sesia, who were fascinated and inspired by places close to them.

Traces of Water is a project of Asilo Bianco Association and Local Tourist Agency of the Province of Novara as part of the call for proposals “Villa Nigra. Cultura e impresa per lo sviluppo di un territorio liquido” promoted by Fondazione Cariplo and the Interreg Italy-Switzerland project “Di-Se - Disegnare il territorio” (in collaboration with Associazione Musei d’Ossola and Museumzentrum La Caverna di Naters). For the occasion, a catalog was produced that, in addition to collecting all the images of the works in the exhibition, includes a series of texts that narrate those same places and spaces represented, in a watery and emotional flow that invites exploration and discovery. Together, a cross-reference to the Via dell’Oro, the bicycle and walking route from Novara to Monte Rosa that was born from the very desire to make the territory of the Upper Piedmont known in a different and slow, contemplative way, following water and colors: from the gold of the rice fields to that of the alpine mines. The exhibition is one of the events within the new edition of ExpoRice. The opening is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 18, at 10 a.m. at the Castello Visconteo Sforzesco in Novara. The exhibition will remain open and visitable, with free access with Green Pass, until Sunday, Sept. 26.

Image: Daniele Catalli, Island of San Giulio

Novara, at Castello Visconteo an exhibition of illustrators reading the territory

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