The village of Certaldo read through digital art: the new project by Vincenzo Marsiglia

In Certaldo’s Palazzo Pretorio, in the birthplace of Giovanni Boccaccio, from March 2 to May 12, 2024, comes a new exhibition by the multifaceted artist Vincenzo Marsiglia (Belvedere Marittimo, 1972). Entitled Stars and Stones, it is curated by Davide Sarchioni, promoted by the City of Certaldo with the support of ArteA Gallery in Milan and coordination by Exponent. After good feedback at the Paris Art Fair and the Rome Arte in Nuvola fair, Marseille presents a new contemporary art project dedicated to the Tuscan village. Through various artistic languages, including digital, the artist creates a contemporary narrative that mixes ancient beauty and new technologies, offering a different perspective on Italy’s cultural heritage. Stars and Stones is a poetic and visual journey through the art of Marseille, which is articulated among some of the most important and iconic places of the medieval village, between the Casa del Boccaccio with its panoramic tower and the striking Palazzo Pretorio. The itinerary presents a large group of varied works, many of them new and created specifically for the project, reflecting the artist’s multidisciplinary approach and recent results of his research on materials and digital media.

The exhibition path contaminates both indoor and outdoor spaces, physical and virtual places and winds its way from the halls of the Palazzo Pretorio, a symbol of Certaldo located at the end of Via Boccaccio, from the Sala del Vicario with a site-specific installation of holograms and digital projections in dialogue with Pier Francesco Fiorentino ’s frescoes from the late 15th century. It continues with black marble works from the Belgian Burning Stones, alabaster Shadow Stones and Shadow Star Cloud, large fabric stars, neon Prospect, and works on paper. The last room traces the innovative immersive mixed and augmented reality experience Map (Star) the World - Certaldo experienced firsthand by the artist by mapping and covering with virtual star patterns some priceless art-historical treasures kept in the museums and churches of Certaldo by means of the HoloLens 2 viewer, such as the Tabernacle of the Executed (1464-65), a masterpiece by Benozzo Gozzoli in the Church of St. Thomas and Prospero, Boccaccio’s tomb in the Mother Church of Saints Jacopo and Filippo, and the pages of the original copy of the Decameron, in an unprecedented and fascinating rereading of Italy’s historical, artistic and literary past between analog and digital vision.

Marseille’s artistic reflection hinges around the continuous elaboration of a sign in the shape of a four-pointed star (Marseille Unity), which can be interpreted as a unit of measurement, an alphabetic character and a symbol, and which is formulated either singly or as a pattern, engraving or covering materials and surfaces according to a variety of techniques and modalities, soliciting unexpected and surprising meanings and aesthetic results. The title of the exhibition, “Stars and Stones,” highlights the two basic elements: the stars, the artist’s distinctive symbol, and the stones used in the works. However, the title also suggests broader implications, such as the dualities between heaven and earth, spiritual and earthly, light and dark, digital and analog, among many others.

“I like to think of Vincenzo Marsiglia as a King Midas who ennobles everything he touches by means of his distinctive sign,” says curator Davide Sarchioni. “His star is an aesthetic and rational sign, but also poetic, symbolic and full of references, the formulation of which amplifies and unveils ever-new intents and meanings that change as the technique and materials used change, as well as the contexts in which it acts. Reflecting on the peculiarities of the place in which the exhibition is set up, the precious stones engraved with the shape or outline of a four-pointed star also refer to ancestral meanings, linked to the origin of humanity, while the digital star mappings that cover objects and architecture, also involving landscapes and contexts of historical and cultural relevance, transform the perception of reality by soliciting futuristic reflections. In both cases, Marseille’s works connect the past with the future by placing themselves in a crystallized time made of stars and stones.”

The village of Certaldo read through digital art: the new project by Vincenzo Marsiglia

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.