Vetrina #4 – Ignazio Mortellaro

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“...for what else is there at the origin of the constellations if not our need to draw lines between the configurations that the luminous dots assume in the night sky, in order to identify them and orient ourselves with their help?”

"Aby Warburg. An Intellectual Biography". Ernst H. Gombrich

For its fourth instalment, Vino Vero presents a site-specific work by Palermitan artist Ignazio Mortellaro. At the core of his artistic research is a constant investigation into nature, travel and life, in a process of liberation and demystification that aim to strip the observer of all illusory ambition and place him before the sublime and terrible spectacle of the world.

Ignazio Mortellaro for Vino Vero presents "Umfangsbestimmung", a site-specific project that reproduces a collection of objects from the artist's studio, a wunderkammer that presents a series of elements related to the marine world, travel and navigation: some come from the natural world, shells and fossils, some are useful orientation tools such as compasses and maps, and others are elements taken from his works. "Umfangsbestimmung" is a logical term for the determination of extension that defines the limits of classes and categories, but literally means "determination of circumference". The two meanings converge in astronomy, a science that influences the work of the artist, who moves like a navigator between one island of meaning and another in a universe pervaded by symbols and artefacts.

Ignazio Mortellaro's artistic practice ranges between sculpture, performance and video, following a scientific-philosophical method of investigation that proceeds from experience to condense into symbolic representation. Mortellaro presents objects dense with meaning, complex elements capable of conveying immediate meaning through pure and essential forms. His works thus become veritable talismans with a great seductive and thaumaturgic power.

The stars, compasses, and other elements used for orientation in navigation bring the viewer to the centre of a quest in which space and time merge. The artist's work offers different levels of interpretation, giving the viewer constant food for thought and perception, proposing a circular and dynamic journey through islands, metamorphoses, animals, people and experiences.

"Vetrina" is a cycle of exhibitions curated by Mara Sartore for Vino Vero, in collaboration with Lightbox: on a quarterly basis, internationally renowned artists working on the theme of nature are invited to present their site-specific works in the window of the wine club adjacent to the bar. The curator explains: "The challenge is to present site-specific artworks on the theme of nature in a limited and unusual place such as a closed shop window, with no space inside."