VENTOTENE - Discover art in the depths of the sea, where everything is silence and magic, to live a unique sensory and emotional experience between nature, beauty and chromatic games, in a sort of "journey back to oneself": up to 23 September in the Marine Park of Ventotene on the island of Santo Stefano it is possible to visit only 'by sea' the personal "Underwater" of the painter Mariella Gentile.
An artistic-emotional underwater journey, in which the artist's paintings (all paintings printed on Dibond aluminum plates, waterproof and compatible with the marine environment) can be seen in snorkeling, deep snorkeling and scuba diving mode, thanks to the collaboration with Valentina Lombardi's DivingWorld in Ventotene.
The exhibition stems from Gentile's previous solo show set up in the Monogramma gallery in via Margutta in Rome "where there was already a first painting sealed and immersed in water. For me, water is an element that softens, which brings us back inside of us; underwater the painting is not seen in the usual way, as we do in museums and galleries where we are distracted, and only the message of the artist and us remains ", explains the painter to ANSA," This exhibition, which it is also linked to the revaluation project of the Santo Stefano prison, it is a cry to rediscover ourselves: in recent years we have lost ourselves, we are all channeled, without identity, we have lost true contact with us and with nature ".
In a submerged natural amphitheater,
the public will be able to admire 7 pieces hanging on the rocky walls, respecting every shape of the marine park (but some works have also been placed outside, in a garden of the island).
"The technique is new, it bends to the need underwater and the paintings are waterproof", Gentile continues, "then in addition to the paintings there are 32 apples scattered on the bottom: the apple is a recurring theme for me, it represents a sort of propitiatory rite, like a new beginning, without fear of looking inside; I have often also represented Adam and Eve, with him blindfolded and she who does not bite the apple ".
A unique experience of its kind, which is lived strictly in costume: you go by boat, then swim for a short distance, always accompanied by the diving instructors, until you reach the point where the exhibition is set up:
you can stay on the water with snorkeling, or dive with the tank.
"The depth is not excessive, and in any case you don't need to be a great swimmer, because you are always assisted", guarantees the artist, "But it is really an opportunity to visit the exhibition in an intimate way, to find yourself. When myself I saw it I experienced an emotional earthquake ".
