Pangrel - Arte Meticcia, Palermo
Year 2018
Title St. Rosalia aligns to center the image of Palermo
Photo Mauro Filippi & Rori Palazzo
Mural in the Kalsa district of Palermo for Pangrel - Arte Meticcia, a project by Fondazione Federico Secondo, curated by Alessandro Mininno.
The piece features a main character intentionally standing outside the framing generated by the wall, instead bringing on scene a collection of items that are related to the symbology of the main patrons of the city, both from christian and a pre-christian era.
The golden pot depicted at the center carries in fact Saint Rosalia, St. Christina of Bolsena, St. Ninfa, St. Olivia and St. Agatha’s symbols as seen in traditional depiction, whilst crown and vase are a reference to the Genius of Palermo, an ancient patron, more likely originated in pre-roman age.
This symbolic tight still-life composition is inserted in a long vertical black space, generating a void at the edges. On a primary level this compositive choice acts a metaphor, together with the variety of the objects depicted, of the “baroque” abundance at the core of the fertile land where, during centuries, many cultures intertwined and enriched one another, making the city of Palermo a unique example of integration and inclusiveness.
On a deeper level the discrepancy within the placing of such subject in a frame so steep creates a tension that puts in place a series of questions regarding art in/on a pre-defined space, a play (or even a fight) with spacial limits proper of any work set or created in a public environment, especially on a wall of an already existing building.
