The Galleria Riccardo Crespi presents N.O.W., a solo exhibition by the artist Marta Sforni comprising her recent production, from monotypes to a selection of oils on canvas. In her works the artist constructs broad allegories in which reflection on the notion of beauty is mixed with an almost contemplative repetition and – as an Italian who has moved to Berlin – shows the distance she has had to move from her background in order to reappraise her own cultural heritage.

Each element in Marta Sforni’s works is a fragment. A constellation of objects that once formed part of an ideal aesthetic system which it is now impossible to rediscover, except through an investigation of the fragments themselves. In this way each object becomes a segment of a more complex discourse, a starting point for an examination of the present moment in history and a reflection on ornamentation.

In Marta Sforni’s work the decorative element becomes symbolic and the theme of the mirror and the notion of time recur in a never-ending search that rummages through the history of art from Leon Battista Alberti to Titian, from Klimt to Matisse and Morandi, and then all the way to Frank Stella and Philip Taaffe.

On display on the lower floor of the gallery is a collection of works on canvas of various dimensions, whose subjects – chandeliers, glassware, fabrics – have been specially chosen by the artist to bring into focus the concept of glazing and underline the importance of an ideal of transparency: according to Marta Sforni, in fact, the use of glaze makes it possible to reinvent the role of the patina removed and to think of time as if it were a symbolic shadow. The exhibition is completed by a series of monotypes, printed with a hundred-year-old German press on Hahnemühle paper, a genuine exercise with darkness.

Marta Sforni was born in Milan in 1966, she lives and works between Berlin and Venice.

Some exhibitions: 2013 Combinatoria, Circolo degli Artisti, Turin 2012 Marta Sforni, Raum für Neue Kunst, Zurich; Dreaming Beauties, Galleria Riccardo Crespi, Milan; Italiens – Junge Kunst in der Botschaft, Italian Embassy, Berlin, curated by Alessandra Pace and Marina Sorbello 2011 Marta Sforni. Berlin Embassy, Galleria Villa Morotti, Daverio (Varese) 2010 Marta Sforni, Il Canneto Editore, Genoa 2008 Sanssouci, Galleria Michela Rizzo, Project Room, Venice, curated by Valerio Dehò; Il Rimedio Perfetto, Galleria Riccardo Crespi, Milan, curated by Marco Tagliafierro

Galleria Riccardo Crespi
Via Mellerio,1
Milan 20123 Italy
Ph. +39 028 9072491
info@riccardocrespi.com
www.riccardocrespi.com

Opening hours
Moday - Saturday
From 11.00am to 1.00pm and from 3.00pm to 7.30pm

Related images

  1. Marta Sforni, Gravity, 2012, Oil on linen, 68 x 82 cm, Courtesy galleria Riccardo Crespi and the artist
  2. Marta Sforni, Inescapable Small, 2013, Oil on linen,30 x 40 cmCourtesy galleria Riccardo Crespi and the artist
  3. Marta Sforni, Braci, 2009, Oil on linen, 100 x 120 cm, Courtesy galleria Riccardo Crespi and the artist
  4. Marta Sforni, Mirror Black 3, 2013, Inchiostro Charbonnel su carta Hanemuhle, 39 x 49 cmCourtesy galleria Riccardo Crespi and the artist
  5. Marta Sforni, Before, 2013, Oil on linen, 98 x 112 cm, Courtesy galleria Riccardo Crespi and the artist
  6. Marta Sforni, Mirror Black 1, 2013, Inchiostro Charbonnel su carta Hanemuhle, 39 x 49 cm, Courtesy galleria Riccardo Crespi and the artist