Silence
Carlo Bertocci, Roberto Pupi, Pietro Schillaci
Curated by Spela Zidar
Ldm Gallery, Via de’Pucci 4, Firenze
Opening: Thursday February 20th, from 5 to 8PM
From Feb 20th to Mar 21st 2025
Opening hours: Mon/Thu/Fri 4-7pm, Tue/Wed 10am-2pm
Opening performance: concert with handpan by Cristina Manuguerra
LdM Gallery is pleased to present SILENCE exhibition in which three artists Carlo Bertocci, Roberto Pupi and Pietro Schillaci dialogue about the representations of silence.
Silence, the concept that is defined by absence – the absence of sounds, voices, noises, and everything capable of producing and perceiving them. Can a still and silent world be a real condition? Can a human being perceive absolute silence or will one always remain tied to the background noises of distant activities or his own body that keeps itself alive? In fact, silence is more of a state of mind than an actual component of nature. The unpredictable silence that paradoxically predisposes the absence of the senses to be heard, but in the absence of the senses does it make sense to talk about silence or does it also cease to exist? Like the famous question: “If the tree falls by itself in the woods and there is no one to hear it, does the tree make a noise?” For the philosopher George Berkeley, the answer was clear – the tree does not make a noise, as objects exist only if perceived. Therefore, silence can only exist if perceived, but to be perceived it must be represented.
The three artists featured in the exhibition Carlo Bertocci, Roberto Pupi, and Pietro Schillaci aim to unite their unique interpretations of silence. Using languages of art, the only ones capable of expressing the concept of silence that has no concrete reality and highlights the limits of language, since it can only be affirmed by remaining silent, the artists create an environment where the viewers can live their own experience of silence and put himself in the relationship with it.
The figures in the paintings of Carlo Bertocci, one of the Tuscan protagonists of the return to figurative painting in Italy in the 80s, have a great communicative attraction. They do not tell a story or mention an event, but their presence is felt, through the gaze and through gestures, which makes his works open to different interpretations. In the works on display it is precisely the gesture, index finger in front of sealed lips, that invites the visitors to be silent in the first part of the exhibition. This gesture is represented both, in the paintings of the master and in the photographs of Pupi and Schillaci who dialogue with each other.
The works of Roberto Pupi and Pietro Schillaci, created together, aim to overcome the autorial dimension of artistic production. Through synaesthetic processes, they visually elaborate the theme of silence as unsaid/unseen, and implement a differentiated perceptive process, through a reorganization of the ways in which the image is presented to the gaze.
During the exhibition, LdM students and other spectators will deepen their experience of silence through events and performances. On the opening day, the musician Cristina Manuguerra will play handpan to create an immersive environment. Furthermore, students will have the opportunity to participate in the meditation session in the gallery with Shirley Shivhon and have a guided tour of the exhibition in the presence of the artists.
CV ARTISTS
Carlo Bertocci was born in Castell’Azzara (GR) in 1946. He lives and works in Florence where, in 1973, he graduated in Architecture. Since 1997 he has been a member of the Academy of Arts and Design in Florence. In the early 1980s he was the protagonist of Pittura Colta theorised by art critic Italo Mussa, thus participating in international exhibitions that brought together the painters of this group with those of Anacronismo. In 1974 he held his first solo exhibition at the Galleria Schema in Florence, followed by numerous solo exhibitions over the years. In 2011 he held an anthological exhibition at the Academy of Florence. He also continues to participate in numerous international and national collective exhibitions, including the XIII Quadriennale d’Arte in Rome 1999 and the biennials in Istanbul 1999, Prague 2009, and Venice 2012. Since 2004 he has been called by the Senate of the Republic to create, for the Galleria dei Presidenti in Palazzo Madama, the portraits of Presidents Giovanni Spadolini, Franco Marini and Maria Elisabetta Alberti Catellati.
“Painting is a silent poem…”
(Leonardo Da Vinci)
Roberto Pupi , born in Livorno (1958), he lives and works in Florence, his studio is in via Giuseppe Sirtori 25 in Florence. Graduated in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. Graduated in History of Contemporary Art at the University of Florence. Among the numerous exhibitions we mention: Exhibitions in 1995 FIRST PRIZE TREVI FLASH ART MUSEUM collective Trevi Perugia; in 1988 ARTISSIMA Contemporary Art Fair Turin Over Studio Gallery, Turin; in 2002 TRACCE FUORICENTRO second edition Department of Culture Municipality of Florence, curated by Lara Vinca Masini and again in 2004 TRACCE FUORICENTRO LIVE fourth edition TRA ART regional network of contemporary art in Tuscany, curated by Patrizia Landi and Gaia Bindi; in 2005 SMACK! collective, The Brewery Project, Los Angeles, curated by Robert Veydemaier; in 2006 LIVORNO 400 YEARS FROM THE FOUNDATION installation, Biblioteca Labronica Livorno. Department of Culture of the municipality of Livorno, curator Patrizia Landi; in 2009 THE ORDER OF CHAOS Installation, National Archaeological Museum of Florence, National Central Library of Florence, La Corte Contemporary Art of Florence, curated by Gianni Pozzi; in 2012 ROBERTO PUPI AT DIE MAUER, solo exhibition at Die Mauer gallery, presentation of the mobile photo catalogue curated by Patrizia Landi, Prato. Among the latest projects we mention: In 2022 BAPTISTERY-A solo exhibition with Pietro Schillaci, Palazzo Pucci, Florence curated by Fabio Norcini; in 2024 NUVOLE Villa Rospigliosi Prato curated by Riccardo Farinelli and Pietro Gaglianò, SOTTOVUOTO for an epidermal city with Margherita Verdi, Cartavetra art Gallery Florence, curated by Erica Romano, SIMULACRA, on the occasion of Pitti Immagine, with Pietro Schillaci, Galleria Immaginaria Florence And 2024 RIFLESSI, with Silvia Noferi and Duccio Ricciardelli, IsolartGallery Florence curated by Xue Rui, Yanqui Cao and Rossella Tesi. The artist collaborates with the following Galleries: Galleria Die Mauer Prato, Galleria Immaginaria Florence, Galleria I-sculpture, San Gimignano – Siena, Galleria Isolart Florence, Sincresis Arte Empoli.
Pietro Schillaci, born in Sicily, lives and works in Florence where he graduated in Architecture. Schillaci is a professional photographer, specialized in art. His photographs are featured in many catalogs of contemporary artists. Shy and withdrawn, he is an implacable judge of his work. In addition to his profession, he carries out research on the medium of photography exhibiting within the circuit of Italian galleries. For some years he has undertaken collaborations with other artists with whom he has produced experimental and innovative projects
Exhibition Dates: February 20 – March21, LdM Gallery, via de’ Pucci 4
The LdM Gallery is a project by Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, an interdisciplinary space where academic research and artistic experimentation meet within a professional setting.