The second art window “VETRINA #2” curated by Mara Sartore presents the Persian/Italian artist Elham M. Aghili
Elham M. Aghili (Sassuolo, 1989) is an Italian-born artist with Persian roots who is finishing her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. Her artwork “Hybrids” recalls an ideal garden inspired by the botanical garden “Orto dei Semplici” by Ulisse Aldrovandi in the sixteenth century at the University of Bologna. In the artist’s research, the garden constitutes an oasis and a refuge full of mystical meanings: a safe and intimate space that achieve a delicate balance between wild and controlled natural elements, whilst also being a space of social interaction. The garden, therefore, becomes a metaphor for our inner world, a microcosm of nature and humanity.
Elham has commented on her practice: “As an artist, I study the relationship between human beings, nature, and space. I am obsessed with nature, and I have transformed my obsession into an insane re-creation of my personal world, parallel to the real one. A world as wild, invasive, and almost primitive in its appearance, as surreal and calculated in every little detail as it can be. My Iranian origins and the profession in my family has always led me to live in close contact with Persian rugs. I have chosen the combination of yarn and nature to give voice to my artistic language: yarn, as a fluid and nebulous element that in my work becomes a solid and rooted form, able to creep into any ravine, and nature, because Persian carpets are historically where the first figurative representation of the garden was produced in textiles. The garden has a pervasive image in the Persian mindset and has been for centuries considered representative of an interior vision”.
Vino Vero continues its collaboration with Lightbox, a new series of events related to contemporary art curated by Mara Sartore. On a quarterly basis, international artists who work with nature are invited to present site-specific works in the window of the wine club adjacent to the bar.
With the series of exhibitions “Vetrina”, artists are invited to reflect on the theme of nature, a key element in the philosophy of Vino Vero, and to create a site-specific installation capable of communicating with a context distinctive far from the usual exhibition spaces in the city of Venice.
The next editions will see new installations from the following creatives: Matilde Sambo, Ignazio Mortellaro, and Lilla Tabasso.