Italian museums, each in its own way, are all celebrating the five hundredth anniversary of the death of the genius Leonardo da Vinci.
The eleven Municipalities of the Union of the Empolese Valdelsa district will also witness the unprecedented widespread exhibition of Maestro Franco Fossi entitled “Obsession, Direction Gioconda”, which will embrace the territory where the artist took his first steps. The first exhibition will start on 12 May in the Tuscan town of Certaldo and will then touch Cerreto Guidi, Castelfiorentino, Montespertoli, Gambassi Terme, Fucecchio, Empoli, Montaione, Vinci, Montelupo Fiorentino and Capraia e Limite to finish on 31 December.
The works, sculptures and video installations by Franco Fossi have the aim of presenting a real journey to discover the timeless myth of Gioconda, analyzed with the eyes of the contemporary artist.
For Franco Fossi "Leonardo da Vinci reveals in the portrait of the Mona Lisa the enchanting soul that marks the way that leads us contemporaries to think of a futuristic concept of science: the immense figure of genius, which is expressed in probably the most famous work in the world, represents an era in the history of art and man”.
Franco Fossi, born in Empoli, will project the spectator into the center of a journey through which the artist himself will accompany him: each exhibition space will correspond to a precise point of view to be analyzed through a series of works, which in chronological and thematic order will put into place both the physical location of the exhibition and the concept at the basis of those same works.
“Since the XNUMXs, the artist has conceived and carried out a particular artistic research on the figure of the Mona Lisa which, in his works, becomes a form/symbol: the Visual DNA of Franco Fossi arises from the desire to retrace the steps of the genius of Vinci and probe the endless fields of human “co(no)-science”, anticipating abstract visions and reflections that can be confirmed in the future, anticipating with Art what Science will validate”, explained the curator of the exhibition Laura Monaldi.
During the exhibitions the spectator will follow the different “artistic indications”, entering the expressive code of Franco Fossi and will feel that he is halfway through a scientific investigation, the goal of which can only be imagined.
"Leonardo da Vinci wrote that those who devote themselves to artistic practice without science are like sailors who go to sea without a rudder or compass and who can never know where they are going" as commented by the mayor delegate for culture of the Union Giacomo Cucini.
THE CALENDAR
A Certaldo at Palazzo Pretorio the exhibition will be open from 12 May to 25 August; to Cerreto Guidi at the MuMeLoc – Museum of Local Memory from 19 May to 30 November; to castelfiorentino at the Oratory of San Carlo from 1 June to 22 June; to Montespertoli at the "I Lecci" wine culture center from 8 June to 23; to Gambassi Terme at the Loggiato del Comune from 29 June to 31 December; to Fucecchio at the Museum of Fucecchio from 6 July to 31 December; to Empoli at the Unione dei Comuni headquarters from 6 September to 31 December; to Montaione at the Town Hall and Civic Museum from 28 September to 3 November; to Vinci at the Palazzina Uzielli from 5 to 20 October; to Montelupo Fiorentino at MMAB from 9 to 23 November; finally, a Capraia and Limit at the Fornace Pasquinucci from 9 to 23 November.
