Giancarlo Marchese and His Virtual BasReliefs

Giancarlo Marchese was one of the most lyrical sculptors of his generation. His love for light and shimmering materials such as glass and mirrored surfaces was expressed in sculpture that is not monumental, let alone aere perennius, but rather surfaces vibrating in space. Glass was often used with iron, reflecting and causing observers to reflect upon the juxtaposition between "strong" and "weak" materials.

In his "paintings," or rather his virtual bas-reliefs (which are specifically featured in this exhibit for the first time), Marchese creates something similar.

Profiles are drawn on iridescent plates, creating an effect of elusive reflections. Shadows are created by light, vacuous fires materialize for short instances before our eyes. As Medardo Rosso said, these surfaces seem to suggest that we are all just tricks of the light. Where light is understood not as a triumphant element, a blinding material, but rather something that is ephemeral and fleeting.

Unlike many sculptors who, when drawing, are nostalgic for three-dimensionality and persist in using solid forms, Marchese gives us an anti-sculptural drawing, made up of fragile lines on the verge of breaking, ambiguous and indecipherable fragments, shreds that do not get reassembled. It provides a lesson on form. As well as a lesson on life.

The exhibit will be available in the Bocconi Sala Ristorante until 17 June and can be visited Mondays through Saturdays from 9am to 12pm.