(by Ida Bini) A splendid and spectacular giraffe painted on wood welcomes visitors to the Carlo Bilotti Museum in Rome, in the heart of Villa Borghese, which from 17 February to 21 April hosts the exhibition 'Manuel Felisi 1:1', curated by Gabriele Simongini.
It is the latest conceptual work by Manuel Felisi, a Milanese artist who has created an exhibition project of 80 wooden panels, dedicated to the animal world threatened by man, a bestiary placed in dialogue with the nearby Bioparco, the oldest zoo in Italy .
As the title suggests - one by one - the works on display are life-size, created with the hybrid painting technique;
In fact, Felisi has always combined different techniques and languages, tradition and technological innovation in a versatile way.
"It is a work of stratification - explains the artist - I start from photography and painting on gauze, used and decorated fabrics. On the large wooden surfaces the rollers and gauze, resins and irregular backgrounds have found fertile ground to create a fantastic world where soak my animals".
"It is a conceptual work - continues Felisi - with captions that report the numbers of living specimens left on earth. There is no presence of man but I created a reflective work with the writing '8 billion'. We are the creators of threatens the animal world".
The exhibition project is a reflection on the dangers of the animal world and the degradation of their habitat, suggested by some photos taken by Felisi himself during a trip to Senegal.
Hence the idea of creating an enchanted garden, a zoo without cages, which can protect the animals from any danger.
"I would like the exhibition to be educational - comments the curator Gabriele Simongini - a mix of tragedy and tragedy where Felisi, like Noah, brings into the large painting arcade the image of animals whose existence is threatened by our environmental aggression. Suspended between appearance and disappearance, the animals stare at us almost incredulous - continues the curator - standing out in real scale against backgrounds that seem to evoke the refinement of Art Deco and a time that already belongs to the dimension of memory".
"The choice of the museum was thought about and desired for a long time - explains the curator Simongini - the Belotti museum is the ideal setting thanks to the presence of the nearby Bioparco".
In fact, the Bioparco Foundation collaborated on the exhibition, which allows us to observe live some of the animals portrayed by the artist and protected inside to make further in-depth study on the nature of the species possible, and by National Geographic Italia, which organized a meeting between Manuel Felisi and the award-winning photographer naturalist Bruno D'Amicis.
The comparison between the two will lead Felisi to the creation of an unpublished work based on a photo by D'Amicis depicting a large Marsican bear, with the idea of raising public awareness of the conservation of this endangered species also through the artist's specific language.
The work will be revealed at the end of the exhibition, on 22 April, World Earth Day.
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