From November 24^th 2022 to January 14^th 2023, the Visionarea Art Space of the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome hosts La natura ama nascondersi (the Nature Loves to Hide exhibition, curated by Ornella Paglialonga with works by Benedetto Pietromarchi, created with the support of the Fondazione Cultura e Arte, an instrumental institution of the Fondazione Terzo Pilastro - Internazionale, chaired by Prof. Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele.
The exhibition presents eight sculptures inspired by the statues of the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, and two large canvases by the artist born in the lands of the Tiber River, which evoke its beauty and hidden nature in a double perspective: on the one hand, the strictly visual one linked to materials such as earth, water, and the elements of nature; on the other, transforming this occasion in a moment of reflection, to speak of history, geological changes, the need to create a balance between humans and animals and, finally, continue to observe art as a possible dimension linked to the imagination.
The exhibition arises from Pietromarchi’s vision, a few meters from the Auditorium della Conciliazione, from Ponte Sant’Angelo to Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, at the point where the Tiber River is most prominent, where we can usually admire a habitat made up of numerous creatures and a muddy and vibrant lagoon vegetation. As is often the case with Pietromarchi, the soil near the places where he creates are used for the production of his works and, for this exhibition, the works on display were crafted with the soil from the Tiber River, suggesting a sort of guide that leads towards water. La natura ama nascondersi is a fragment of Heraclitus, brought up in order to try to answer the questions posed by the artist, where the relationship between humans and nature, the creation and destruction of matter, plays a fundamental role, fortifying and hindering the identity of the work of art. In this succession of opposites lies the founding structure of the whole. Pietromarchi’s reflection is in a conceivable harmony that governs us. So, through his creations, he tries to give voice to all those natural elements that cry out and want to return to their equilibrium. An important component in the works of the artist is the use of materials, such as terracotta and ceramics. Materials that make his endeavor extremely expensive, since the cost for firing are very high. For this exhibition, the artist chose to leave most of his sculptures raw, therefore, preventing an excessive waste of energy. His choice brings to mind Lévi-Strauss’ idea and his famous essay, "The raw and the Cooked". In some way, Pietromarchi’s work represents a symbolic intent, as well as a technical-energetic one: namely, the need to regress creatively from the cultural to the natural stage, from a society of rules to one of legends. Even if the passage from raw to cooked for the French anthropologist refers to food, the topic can naturally also be applied to terracotta and the processes it undergoes.

Exhibition details:
Artist: Benedetto Pietromarchi
Title: La natura ama nascondersi (Nature loves to hide
)
Curator: Ornella Paglialonga
Dates: November 24^th 2022 to January 14^th 2023
Inauguration: Wednesday, November 23^rd 2022, from 6:30 pm to 9 pm
Venue: VISIONAREA Art Space - Auditorium della Conciliazione
Address: Piazza Pia 1, Rome
Ticket price: free admission
E-mail: info@visionarea.org