Société Interludio space for contemporary art is pleased to open the collective exhibition Citéra, with the participation of young artists Giovanni Chiamenti (Verona, 1992); Nicola Melinelli (Perugia, 1988) and Enrico Tealdi (Cuneo, 1976), with a critical text by Simona Squadrito. 

Initially planned for March 2020, the exhibition will be open from Monday 21st to Sunday 27th September, from 3pm to 7pm in Piazza Vittorio Veneto 14, Turin and will also be visible from September 28th to December 30th, by appointment only. 

Citéra tells of an intimate space that unites and divides: the exhibitional space is an abandoned manor, but at the same time also a shelter that – in its dichotomy – becomes both host and hosting site of an intimate and delicate sensuality. Though a path equally narrative and evocative, this exhibition presents itself as an ode to forgetting. The exhibitional space is transformed into a mimesis of the interiors of a villa from a far and non-definable time. Intimate spaces that have been lived and loved, now left to the silence of relinquishment. But, after neglection, after decay, there’s green which comes back. There are flowers, that keep blooming again and again, even if no-one cares for them anymore. 

In a certain way, the exhibition celebrates the triumph of weakness: in frailty or in the permanence of Chiamenti’s works, in learning to look for beauty where we would not usually look (Tealdi), in the loss of control and the consequent act of building over contradictions (Melinelli). 

In Tealdi’s site-specific work, landscape painting – proposing indeed an en plein air subject matter – takes over the inner walls of the gallery, becoming a type of painting for interiors, for an intimate and safe space. The second exhibitional space seems to recall the rooms of XVII-century country villas and the large guache invites the spectator to enter in a blurred and touched-upon garden. Tealdi’s intervention moves on the trails of an approach constituted by contrasts that find a new balance: a subject-matter for exteriors made for an interior, the note-taking technique for a wall surface. 

Mushrooms, the series of artworks by Melinelli, describes the processes of growth, talk about blooming, become translation – after study and observation – of the behavior of botanical lifeforms. Pots for cut flora, Mushrooms mimic textures and anatomical structures inspired by barks, musks and mushrooms. As for Tealdi, in Melinelli’s research as well works moves on a dichotomous harmony: if on one side its realization (employing hot-melt glue) stands as antithesis of the discourse on Nature, at the same time it recalls its aesthetic. The dream like imagery of the undergrowth evoked in Melinelli’s works dialogues with the marine one in Chiamenti’s ones. Deep blue represents a sort of underwater flora, fictional, extremely fragile, which crumbles if it comes into contact with a living being external to its own microclimate; Vanitas is a series of porcelain sculptures recalling shells enriched by minerals and fossils of different nature – symbolizing their rebirth from the earth element – while in Quarantine, PolyJet 3D prints reproduce chunks of wood altered by atmospheric agents and time, confined in a sterile space to highlight their alien-like nature. 

The mimetic process put into action by the artists towards Nature, Landscape and the Garden, therefore springs form the acknowledging that true self does not coincide with the ideal self: this leads to a reconciliation with reality and a consequent breakdown of narcissism. 

Artists

Giovanni Chiamenti (Verona, 1992) lives and works in Milan. He graduated with majors in Painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, in 2017. During 2016/17 he takes part in the Erasmus+ program at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles. He exhibited his works in collective exhibitions both in Italy and internationally at the Palazzina dei Bagni Misteriosi (Milan), Atelier 34zèro Muzeum (Bruxelles), Daniele Agostini Gallery (Lugano). In 2018 he had a residency at the School of Visual Arts in New York and was one of the finalists in the Francesco Fabbri Prize. In 2019 he was resident artist ar VIR viafarini-in-residence in Milan and one of the artists selected for the residency program IN PRATICA, in partnership with VIAINDUSTRIAE (Foligno) and The Blank Contemporary Art (Bergamo). 

Nicola Melinelli (Perugia, 1988), lives and works in Bologna. In 2014 he graduated at the Scuola di Belle Arti in Bologna. In 2019 he took part in Pelle d’Oca, a collective exhibition curated by Simona Squadrito and Lisa Andreani, Villa Vertua Masolo, Nova Milanese. Multiple and uniques – book of artists by REPLICA archival exhibition curated by Simona Squadrito and Lisa Andrani, Edicola Radetzky, Milan. Carbonio e Sicilio, organised by Cuoghi and Corsello, ITG C. Pacinotti, Bologna. In 2018 he participated in Stupido come un pittore curated by Simona Squadrito and Rossella Farinotti, Villa Vertua Masolo, Nova Milanese. The Useless Hand, collective exhibition curated by Elsa Marasca and Irene Sofia Comi, Lajone Castle, Alessandria. In 2017 he exhibited in the collective expo Solo figli curated by Irene Guzman and Sergia Avveduti at the Espirit Nouveau Pavillion, Bologna. Lab04 / Room residency and final exhibition with Vincenzo Simone at GAFFdabasso, Milan. In 2016 he partook in Artefiera40, history of a collective collection curated by Claudio Spadoni and Giorgio Verzotti, Mambo, Bologna. The Hawt Shown, collective exhibition organized by Rolando Anselmi Galleria, Cassino. In 2016 Inherent vice group show curated by Hickster Project, Siena. Asciugatrice project by LOCALEDUE, curate dby Gabriele Tosa at ArtVerona, Verona. He was also part of the Off the wall group exhibition at CARDRE gallery, Bologna. Rovesci Sparsi, personal exhibition at AplusB Arte Contemporanea, Brescia. In 2015 his works were exhibited in the coactive exhibition One Minute of Reality at AplusB Arte Contemporanea, Brescia. In 2014, the first personal exhibition of Actiniaria ar ApulsB Contemporary Art, Brecia. The personal exhibition Cascate d’Acqua, opened at CARDRE, Bologna. 2014, Oltre il Pensiero, collective exhibtion at AplusB Arte Contemporanea, Brescia. In 2013 he is invited to the collective exhibition of the romantic duo organised by Arnaud Deschin gallery, La Friche Belle de Mai, Marseille. He takes part in the collective exhibit Elephant Talk, organised by Andrea Kvas in the spaces of CARDRE Gallery, Bologna. Between 2011 and 2014 he is one of the founders of the INTERNO4 project in Bologna. 

Enrico Tealdi was born in Cuneo in 1976, where he lives and works. After graduating in painting, he perfects his training through various workshops with internationally renowned tutors such as Massimo Bartolini, Stefano Arienti, Lorenza Boisi, the German Tobias Rehberger. His first exhibition experiences have been present since 1998. Among the solo exhibitions: 2019, Concerto per carillon, Galleria Francesca Antonini, (Rome),, Trasfiguration Mode, curated by Antonio Zimarino, Palazzo Acquaviva, (Atri), 2016, Words that no one will say are sought, curated by Davide Caroli , MAR, (Ravenna), 2015, The diffuse Diagonale; curated by Veronica Liotti, Spazio Yellow, (Varese), 2014, Golfo Mistico, Galleria Francesca Antonini, (Rome), 2013, It was a small world and held hands, curated by Veronica Liotti, EffeArte, (Milan), 2012 Fata Morgana, The temperature of the senses, edited by Marco Tagliafierro, 41artecontemporanea, (Turin), 2009, Book of shadow, edited by Claudio Cravero and Antonello Tolve, Not Fair Gallery, (Milan). Among the group shows: 2020, The Milky Way, Galleria Franco Noero, (Turin), 2018, Nero Fortissimo, Antichissimo Rosa, curated by Lorenza Boisi, MIDEC, (Laveno), 2018, CBM, Art Prize, curated by Creative Area 42, Galleria Chemistry, (Prague), 2017, Studio Freud, curated by Fabio Carnaghi, (Milan), Condensa, curated by Barbara Fragogna, Fusion Art Gallery, (Turin), Osmosis, Museo del Territorio, (Biella), 2016, Dehor, curated by Claudio Libero, Pisano, Cisterna romana, (Atri), Empatema, Studi Aperti, (Milan), 2015, Koffer Kunst, curated by Veronica Liotti, Atelier Nele Waldert, Dusseldorf / Heerdt (Germany), 2014, Some Landscapes, LANDINA, En plein air Painting Experiences, curated by Lorenza Boisi, Cars, (Omegna), 2023, At Work, curated by Katia Anguelova, Fondation Fondation Donwahi pour l’Art Contemporain, Abidjan II Plateaux (Ivory Coast), 2012, Mente Locale edited by a.titolo, CESAC, Centro Sperimentale per le Arti Contemporanee, Filatoio Rosso, Caraglio (Italy), 2011, Italy Now, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, HC Andersen Museum, Rome (Italy), DOC, Designation of Contemporary Origin, edited by / curated by Lucrecia Vega Gramunt, Borges Cultural Center , Buenos Aires (Argentina), 2010, The Office, curated by Kety Shenu, Stela Suloti, Nerina Ciaccia, Contemporary Art Space, Tirana (Albania), TorinoMeForWe, curated by Susanna Sara Mandice, Cultivating Generative Synergies, Ex Arsenale Militare, Turin (Italy), Minimal Adventures. Miokinesia in today’s art, edited by Antonello Tolve, General Archive of the Historical Site, Former Convent of San Lorenzo, Wars or Words? curated by / curated by Alessandra Menesini and / and Luca Vona (Batoli-Felter Foundation purchase award), Bartoli-Felter Foundation, Cagliari (Italy), 2006, Arte & Sud. Contemporary objective, curated by / curated by Antonio Arévalo, Villa Fortuna, Acitrezza (Italy), 2005, New Arrivals. Real as a dream. True as a memory, curated by Olga Gambari, Accademia Albertina, Turin (Italy), 2003 Fresco and Salty curated by Sania Papa, Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki (Greece), 2000, Book Never Ever Seen, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò , New York University, NY (USA).