On Lake Orta the widespread exhibition SOSHumanity, a cry of denunciation and hope toward the future

The Fondazione Cavaliere del Lavoro Alberto Giacomini presents until November 2, 2022 the exhibition spread over Lake Orta entitled SOSHumanity. Conceived and realized by the Foundation, the exhibition is intended to be a provocative cry of denunciation and at the same time of hope, a profound awareness of the difficult historical and social moment that the whole of humanity is experiencing, hovering between global epidemics, wars, climate emergencies, social, moral and anthropological degradation, and environmental and mind pollution. The widespread exhibition also intends to be a glimmer of hope toward the future, so that man will be able to become aware of his responsibility toward the damage he has created to himself and planet Earth.

The exhibition entrusts this SOS to five artists-Simone Benedetto, Silvia Della Rocca, Sergio Floriani, Omar Hassan and Helidon Xhixha-who have been invited to interpret, with their personal sensitivity and worldview, one aspect of this emergency, through art installations that allude to the themes of pollution, social and environmental degradation produced by man.

Sculptor Simone Benedetto interpreted SOSHumanity’s themes of social denunciation, particularly towards children and their world to be protected and safeguarded. His works of greatest visual and emotional impact are Teddy Bear and Sexy Teddy, two giant teddy bears reaching four meters in height, with a double meaning: icons defending the innocence and spontaneity of children and a vehicle for denouncing violence and social degradation. In addition to the monumental works, the artist also brings to the lake his Animal Souls, sculptures that represent a metamorphosis of the child into an animal, taking on not only its sculptural gestures but also its most intimate and primal inner essence.

Silvia Della Rocca, on the other hand, brings her Moons to Lake Orta as a sign of hope to return to “riveder le stelle,” interpreting humanity’s desire to get out of this “metaphorical Hell” in which it has sunk, gripped, between pandemics and wars, climatic emergencies and pollution. Gong Moon is a double Moon, gold and silver in color, suspended in the sky like a large Gong that metaphorically receives and releases the vibrations of the universe, suggesting a contemplative attitude and connection with the self; but at the same time it draws attention to environmental emergencies, showing a series of objects recovered directly from the lake, man-made waste that pollutes the environment. Holistic Moon is reflected in the waters of the lake bringing its message of hope, and its dual essence, the Yin and Yang principle, a symbol of that balance for which every human being yearns and whose arcane laws nature teaches us. Observing his Moons, the artist invites man to turn his gaze back to infinity, beyond the limits of the ego, and at the same time within his own self, seeking a new connection with nature and the universe.

Hallmarks of Sergio Floriani’s art, fingerprints represent concrete evidence of existence, the first human element of individual identity. Floriani brings to the waters of the lake two works that represent his vision of the world, where fingerprints indelibly imprint matter, giving it identity and meaning. The installation entitled A Confrontation, an oblique parallelepiped imprinted with digital signs, appears as a sculptural moloch that rises and integrates with its surroundings, reflecting in the lake and imprinting fingerprints in the matter; an alarm relating to the depersonalization that Western man was undergoing as a result of the progress of society. The second work, The Gate of Law, is an imposing and totemic structure with rational and reassuring forms, characterized by fingerprints, a metaphor for the transition to a dimension in which man claims his space and identity.

Having become famous for his highly personal action painting, Omar Hassan has an unmistakable style. A former boxer, he sees in the act of fighting a metaphor for life and turns it into art. On Lake Orta he does not wear colors and gloves, but responds by stripping his pictorial gestures of color. His Comignoli, terracotta fireplaces, are an invitation to reflect on the importance of the place where we live, the home, the domestic hearth that we share with our nearest and dearest and our children. The fireplace becomes a symbol of family values, the traditions to which we are attached and the origins from which we come. Hassan’s fireplaces are not elements of emitting polluting fumes, but artistic metaphors for the emission of scents, aromas, feelings and family affection; drawing attention to the importance of returning to the most intimate and traditional values, as opposed to the increasingly rampant social decay, characterized by a deep ethical and moral crisis.

Helidon Xhixha brings a monumental stainless steel iceberg to Lake Orta as a symbol of environmental denunciation. With its aesthetic strength and its continuous variation of luminous reflections. The work floats, becoming a symbol of raising awareness about climate change affecting the entire Planet. The ultra-rapid melting of ice masses is a threat to the entire planet. Helidon’s Iceberg shows this disturbing scenario through a visual impact that can shake the consciences of observers by reaffirming the centrality of environmental issues in the contemporary world.

"SOSHumanity is a call for help issued to humanity and for humanity, so that it may become aware that man is solely responsible for all the social and environmental emergencies that are challenging our present and our future. We are the ones responsible for our own degradation, and only through an act of deep awareness will it be possible to embark on a new path toward sustainability," explained Andrea Alessandro Giacomini."SOSHumanity, in its simplicity, is an impactful title that leaves no room for interpretation but is unequivocally the universal distress signal, which takes absolute precedence over all other communications."

For info: www.fondazionealbertogiacomini.it

Image: Simone Benedetto, Teddy Bear. Photo by Michele Della Palma

On Lake Orta the widespread exhibition SOSHumanity, a cry of denunciation and hope toward the future

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