Babetto's gold in dialogue with the sacred, between sign and light

VENICE - An intertwining of wooden branches, a reference to "that wood of which Christ is the sprout", covered with gold leaf and which at the same time seem to try to rise, seek light for new life, and sink its roots in that blue Herculaneum stretched on the top of the great lectern placed in the center of the hemicycle carved in the 16th century by the Flemish Van de Brule, in the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore, in Venice. It is a work entitled "Jesse", which is a reference to the mystery of the Incarnation, of God who became man; it is a work that is the central point, almost radiating, of the "Sign and Light" exhibition by Giampaolo Babetto, a Paduan artist and creator of jewelery-sculptures, of wearable architectures. The exhibition, curated by Andrea Nante and Carmelo Grasso, until 3 April in the Palladian spaces of theAbbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore, was born from Babetto's confrontation with the theme of the sacred, the questioning about the signs of spirituality as a specific dimension of man, in recent times with the echo of nature that surrounds his house-laboratory in Arquà Petrarch. It is the result of the invitation of the abbot Stefano Visintin and the Benedictine monks, in the context of cultural activities aimed at renewing the relationship between art and the Church and which have seen protagonists in the past, for example, artists such as Anish Kapoor, Michelangelo Pistoletto or Sean Scully. "Giampaolo Babetto - notes the abbot in the catalog - shows himself in his works as guardian of the beauty of the world and worthy of the artistic ideal of making the world of the spirit, the invisible, perceptible and, as far as possible, fascinating.and of God ". An idea of ​​art, that of Babetto, which hinges, since the origins of his research, struggles and matures through a continuous comparison with lines and geometric figures and manifests itself with the use of gold , material that gives shape to creations exhibited in 42 museums around the world. In the silence of the Sacristy, the artist's research on the theme of the cross, on that intersection of two lines full of history and meanings, the very symbol of Christianity, is exalted by a sequence of works that seem to be the very essence of purity and light. And the latter seems to be the material of which some creations are made with the use of glass and crystal. Jewelery-sculptures are collected in showcases that become ex voto, while on ancient shelves are placed liturgical chalices placed near metal containers,designed for domestic environments, which also evoke a possible religious function. On a small altar there is a monstrance, designed for a church in Munich, positioned in front of a large painting with the Mary and the child ascending to the Temple, while along the side corridors there is a significant selection of graphic works also under the banner of sign and light.