Talismans 4

Vistamare is pleased to present ‘Alea iacta est‘, a group show curated by Milovan Farronato.

Participating artists:
Enrico David, Patrizio di Massimo, Anthea Hamilton, Celia Hempton, Camille Henrot, Maria Loboda, George Henry Longly, Goshka Macuga, Lucy Mckenzie, Paulina Olowska, Christodoulos Panayiotou, Eddie Peake, Sagg Napoli, Prem Sahib, Osman Yousefzada.

The die is cast, the cards have been drawn and placed correctly on the table. Each one corresponds to an omen, a warning or an enigmatic indication. The arrangement follows the more usual trajectories of a prophetic reading. On the right is the unrevealed pack of cards, while on the left are the four external influences arranged side by side. In the centre, drawing a cross, take up their positions those representing the questioner, his present, his past, the answer to the question he poses and, in conclusion, the suggestion that the deck spontaneously intends to offer.

So in Vistamare’s Milan venue, Milovan Farronato, who recently returned to live in Milan, chooses to represent his path through the most significant collaborations that took place during the time he worked and lived in London, from 2013 to 2020. The works or assemblages of works constitute the arcana, while the gallery is the three-dimensional space where they take their position for an unprecedented, yet accurate, reading. Chance will guide the arrangement and combinations. The fifteen artists selected from among those with whom the relationship has been most compelling, enduring and multifaceted in a range of stimulating occasions. Another criterion, proximity to the geographical context and the period in question. The curator does not deny that the exhibition is a partial portrait and also a type of display that could be repeated in the future.

The secrets contained in some of Christodoulos Panayiotou’s folded and spilled works on the floor will configure the unrevealed deck, while the unpublished contributions of Patrizio di Massimo, Anthea Hamilton, George Henry Longly, Lucy Mckenzie the four external influences. What role was assigned by chance to the other participants: Enrico David, Celia Hempton, Camille Henrot, Maria Loboda, George Henry Longly, Goshka Macuga, Paulina Olowska, Eddie Peake, Sagg Napoli, Osman Yousefzada. It must really have been chance that dictated the rules of the game or, as Stéphane Mallarmé argues, coincidences are always driven, and so also Farronato rolled the die several times to find the most benevolent solution. After all, as the British writer Jeanette Winterson says: ‘autobiography is just art and lies’.