Gregorio Botta Io sono qui

cm 105 x 40 x 40

Gregorio Botta made his debut in the early 1990s exhibiting in Beijing (1993) for the exhibition “Trasparenze dell’arte italiana sulla via della carta (Transparencies of Italian art on the paper road).” The artist’s research immediately showed his bond with Toti Scialoja, his teacher at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome, whose teachings can be summed up in the motto “the art of taking away, of little, of less”, with the purpose of “arriving at an art of nothingness.” Botta’s research therefore celebrates the return to the essential, to the origins, a choice that is reflected in the use of primitive materials such as lead, iron, glass and wax, which are then manipulated and juxtaposed with natural elements like fire, air, and water. In "Io sono qui", the artist projects the message that gives the title to the work onto a small body of water, supported by an iron and lead base, according to the idea, consistent with his research, of the construction of relational works that interact with the viewer and the space, becoming a place for living, contemplating, but also one of language: the human dwelling par excellence. Thus, as in the case of Io sono qui, phrases, words, quotations from literature and poetry, are taken by the artist to express that existential intimacy where everyone can seek and recognize themselves. As the artist states, “I aspire to something that was or that will be. That leaves only a trace of itself. Or a premonition."

No

A. Bonito Oliva (ed.), Gregorio Botta, exhibition catalogue (Rome, Fondazione Volume!), Milan 2009; A. Madesani (ed.), Gregorio Botta, Milan 2010; G. Gigliotti (ed.), Gregorio Botta. Rifugi, exhibition catalogue (Rome, MACRO-Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma), Macerata 2012.

Foto Maurizio Valdarnini

Donation by the artist

Installation