Inspired by the structures that will host, on the occasion of Expo 2015, the exhibitions of the adhering countries, Bros creates a real pavilion renamed the Nature Pavilion. Using contrasting colors and bright enamels, the artist reconstructs the silhouette of a landscape, according to a technique that refers to the reflections on the different theories of color proposed, between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, by the philosophers Goethe and Schopenhauer and, subsequently, by the painters impressionists.
The Nature Pavilion project was also born for highlight the irreversible change in the physiognomy of Milan, a national symbol of metropolitan urban development which is currently changing its scenario, enhancing the idea of a showcase city to the detriment of a more human dimension.
In the words of Bros himself: “Padiglione Natura is an exhibition space that investigates the importance of the landscape within urban contexts in Italy, particularly in the city of Milan, site of the next International Exhibition”. The Pavilion creates a sort of dialogue with the numerous building sites in the city with the intention of offering a space for reflection on the real need for places that have not yet been built and are intended for the public.
The big box in via Pinturicchio refers to the Expo, to the idea of a pavilion where each member country will present its innovations. In this case, however, the interior is empty. The artist intervenes only on the external surface with the colors and the addition of polystyrene letters on the perimeter of the facade, like a sign that acts as a point of reference for the public. The public cannot enter inside, they can only look at it from outside, focusing their attention on the scenario of the urban landscape and on the concept of reappropriation of public space. “It's up front – says Bros – that the public should understand the uselessness of a building, only form, without any content”.
Bros has been studying the landscape in Italy since 2010. Three years ago, together with the photographer Cosimo Filippini, he traveled 10.000 km to discover the territory and unspoiled nature of our country. Upon their return, they began to work on the theme with artistic actions: from the exhibition in the "La Fornace" social center in Rho in 2010 with the musical collaboration of Flavio Cannata and the literary collaboration of Alessandro Riva, to the intervention in 2011 on the facade of the new headquarters of Il Sole 24 Ore designed by Renzo Piano. The following year Bros painted several vans circulating in the city of Milan bringing an image of the landscape. In May of the same year he created "Andrea" a permanent intervention on the fountain / skylight of the Macro in Rome curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi, current curator of the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. In October, the artist created "Nadir" on the facade of a former vinyl factory and "Caos Laico" on the shoring of a building in the historic center of L'Aquila.
BROS. NATURE PAVILION
Milan, via Pinturicchio 4
Inauguration: Tuesday 23 April 2013, from 18 to 21 pm
