We are pleased to inform you that Gianni Bertini is among the artists of the 60th International Art Exhibition entitled Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere, curated by Adriano Pedrosa and produced by la Biennale di Venezia.
"The expression Foreigners Everywhere" - explains Adriano Pedrosa - "has several meanings. First of all, that wherever you go and wherever you are you will always encounter foreigners— they/we are everywhere. Secondly, that no matter where you find yourself, you are always truly, and deep down inside, a foreigner.”
Already invited among the young artists in 1958, then participating in 1968 with a room entirely dedicated to him, Gianni Bertini is once again among the artists exhibiting at the 2024 Art Biennial; this time with the artwork La toile de Penelope (1959), a textile collage created in collaboration with his wife Licia Monesi that we can ascribe to the cycle of informal paintings Espaces imaginaires (1953 - 1960).
We find here a rational and gestural abstractionism, characterised by a mechanomorphic structure, a symbol of contemporaneity, which the artist juxtaposes with titles referring to mythology, aiming to elevate man to a cosmic position. Few colours and absolute blacks are the protagonists of his lyrical abstraction full of strength and poetry.
Gianni Bertini was a volcano of ideas and passions, to use the words of Lara Vinca Masini, “he went through half a century of artistic history at a breakneck pace, like an ancient warrior (or a Japanese kamikaze) always risking everything and using painting as a sword and as a banner”.
In quality of Gianni Bertini Archive, we are happy that his art can receive further recognition from one of the most important international art exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale.
In-depth analysis of the artwork
La Toile de Penelope (1959), a textile collage created in collaboration with his wife Licia Monesi, represents a departure in technique from Bertini’s usual style, possibly influenced by Alberto Burri. The artwork is part of Espaces imaginaires, an informal painting series spanning from 1953 to 1960. Abstract and gestural, these works feature significant titles referencing mythological characters like Oedipus, Dido, Artemis, Mars, and others. Ancient myths served as a means for Bertini to reconstruct a modern shared humanism after the war and to interpret his own feelings, views, and personal life. Mimicking the immediacy of brushstrokes, various fabric scraps are sewn together with wide and intentionally irregular stitches so that the artwork, seen from a distance, bears an expressionist quality, which is contradicted by the painstaking assembly of patches and threads. The incorporation of fabrics and threads alludes to Penelope’s actual web, adding an additional layer of meaning to the artwork.
Antonella Camarda, art historian (from the Venice Biennial website)
2024 Art Biennial
Giardini / Arsenale / Forte Marghera, 20 April > 24 November 2024
Summer opening hours: 11 am - 7 pm (from 20 April to 30 September - last admission 6:45 pm)
Until 30 September, Arsenale venue only: on Fridays and Saturdays extended opening until 8 pm (last admission 7:45 pm)
Autumn opening hours: 10 am - 6 pm (from 1 October to 24 November - last admission 5:45 pm)
Closed on Mondays (except 22 April, 17 June, 22 July, 2 and 30 September, 18 November)