MARIANO SARDÓN
Damnatio Figuræ. From the negation of the image to the portrait
OPENING:
18 June 2025.
From 19 June until 05 October 2025.
WHERE:
Fondazione Alberto Peruzzo – Padua (ITALY).
The idea for the exhibition was born from contemplating the work Untitled by Jannis Kounellis, which alludes to a crucifixion and suffering, but without presenting the body of Christ. Here the artist implements a “poetics of the secret”, of the mystery of things. Towards dramaturgy and theatricality, where even the absence of the figure – with its call – is powerful and tragic.
The term “damnatio figurae” refers to a denial of images, a theme that is linked to historical debates not only on iconoclasm, but in general on the use of visual representations. Starting from these assumptions, taking the cue given by the importance and meaning of the presence or absence of the human face and figure, the selection in Navata brings together the works of 5 artists (Thorsten Brinkmann, Aron Demetz, Nicola Samorì, Mariano Sardon, Manolo Valdés) who, in different ways, have worked around the absence or concealment of human expression, without reaching iconoclasm.