Human Gravity

From November 23, 2024 to March 1, 2025, Marignana Arte will host the group exhibition Human Gravity. The project is conceived by Opiemme, who will present some of his latest works created specifically for this exhibition. In addition to Opiemme's contributions, works by Arthur Duff, fuse*, Aldo Grazzi, Yojiro Imasaka, Silvia Infranco, Alessandra Maio and Quayola will also be on display.

Running concurrently with Human Gravity, Marignana Project's space will also host a solo exhibition by Opiemme, titled Ciò che resta, ciò che cambia (What remains, what changes). Both exhibitions invite viewers to reflect on themes such as the desacralization of nature, humanity's impact on the planet and the violence of anthropogenic processes. Additionally, they explore the salvific value of artistic expression as a means of investigating, reflecting on, and articulating the complex relationship between humanity and natural environment, offering the possibility of inspiring new reflections.

As philosopher Marcel Gauchet suggests, modernity began with "the expulsion of the invisible from visible nature", leading to the slow and continuous process of desacralization of nature, humanity, ethics, and morality (M. Gauchet, A Disenchanted World, Dedalo 2008). This disenchanted world is realized by techno-scientific progress, which - following Alexandre Koyré's words – moved us "from the world of the pre-simple to the universe of precision". Having lost its enchantment, having lost its sacredness, the world appears as a commodity to be disposed of indiscriminately. In a purely technical-scientific view, it is only a matter of time: the mysteries of the cosmos are within human reach and to be unraveled by the tools we create. One day, even the deepest truths of nature, the origins of being, and the purpose of existence will be fully understood and resolved in a rational system of knowledge. The conceptual core shared by the exhibitions Human Gravity and Ciò che resta, ciò che cambia builds upon these premises: can art re-enchant the world? Can artistic research reconnect the visible with the invisible, precision with wonder, reason with mystery, by opposing and criticizing a distorted anthropocentric view of the universe? The works in these exhibitions investigate the limits and criticalities of a destructive vision of the relationship between humanity and the cosmos. They counter the "gravity" of human impact with the lightness of aesthetic contemplation, seeking not to "commodify" reality, but on the contrary, to evoke a sense of wonder at the unfathomable mystery that surrounds it.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a text by Claudio Cravero.