Homo ludens. When art meets play is the title of the monographic exhibition scheduled until 30 March 2014 at the Gallerie di Piazza Scala in Intesa Sanpaolo.
Homo ludens is an exhibition built on play and aimed at enhancing the presence of the playful factor in contemporary art. The exhibition, curated by Francesco Tedeschi, presents thirty-two works which in various ways relate to the theme of play, a fundamental element of creation artistic, which also allows you to interpret many aspects of human behavior and relationships, according to what historians, anthropologists, philosophers, mathematicians and economists have demonstrated. The proposed works, selected from those conserved in the Intesa Sanpaolo collections, range from creations by Fortunato Depero and Max Ernst, testifying to the way in which the game is a pregnant reason for research into Futurism and Surrealism, to works by authors of the second half of the twentieth century, such as Enrico Baj ,Grazia Varisco, Ugo Nespolo, Aldo Spoldi, and of the fin-de-siècle generation, such as Grazia Toderi, Paola Pezzi, Liliana Moro, Maurizio Arcangeli.
They are collected with reference to visual and logical models, which pass through the manipulation of materials, the definition of "rules of the game", to touch the displacements generated by the forms of visual reversal and the relationship between "small" and "large", mechanisms proper to fairy tale and game. Guest of honor at the exhibition are the chessmen by Enrico Baj, from a private collection, made in 1987 and placed on a chessboard created for the occasion.
In the figures created by Baj, one different from the other in shape and colour, a strange anarchy hovers, which does not want to recognize the discipline of the rules and the strategy of the parts. The Monographia is enriched by a catalog published by Skira and by a multimedia itinerary curated by Francesca Pola with Zenit Arti Audiovisive which, through a rich iconographic documentation, invites the visitor to explore the theme of play in twentieth-century art, through transversal readings and insights, between history, philosophy, anthropology and pedagogy, with iconographic extensions and texts, which also includes a particular section dedicated to artists' books for children. "A provocation arises from artistic practice: play cannot be a way to recover a person's integrity to be recognized primarily in the childhood condition, at that time in which everything exists and is possible, in which the world is at one's disposal?
Perhaps in that "happy" time everyone places their ideal and profound vision of reality, spending the rest of their lives trying to rebuild it. It is perhaps one of the possible escape routes from reality and rationality, which identifies in an ideal "golden age" the model to aspire to, to conform to. After all, we are all inclined to recognize an educational component in childhood play, so we see in it a way in which the child prepares for adulthood, learning skills and attitudes by imitation, but it is not said that everything must be finalized to the acquisition of an adult condition, of maturity, of power, of aspiration to another and perhaps "second" completeness, unattainable in existential or human terms (Citizen Kane from the film Citizen Kane by Orson Welles can be a valid example : the man who has everything, but who regrets, in memory, the lost sled he had as a child)." (F. Tedeschi, from the exhibition catalog) Strongly recommended to "minors", the exhibition is also accompanied by a publication for children, curated by Civita Servizi and published by Skira, which will be distributed free of charge to all "little visitors". On the occasion of the exhibition, collateral activities will be proposed including numerous educational workshops and three meetings: one dedicated to the work of Max Ernst on display, its history and its recovery; a second with the psychiatrist Gustavo Pietropolli Charmet, who will speak on the role of play in the relationship between the adult and infantile condition; the third will be with Stefano Bartezzaghi, around the spirit of the game. The exhibition Homo ludens. When art meets play, admission is free, as is the entire exhibition proposal of the Gallerie di Piazza Scala.
The Galleries of Piazza Scala are open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9.30 to 19.30, Thursday until 22.30.
