Ludovico Pratesi

From May 27th to August 31st 2018, Michelangelo Pistoletto's exhibition will be held in the Church of Santa Maria della Spina in Pisa. The Time of Judgment. Curated by Ludovico Pratesi, it will exceptionally have an appendix in the monumental Sala delle Baleari of Palazzo Gambacorti, seat of the Municipality of Pisa.
 
Promoted by the Municipality of Pisa in collaboration with the University of Pisa and the SpazioTempo Association of Michela Rizzo, with the support of Galleria Continua and Atlante Servizi Culturali, the exhibition is the fifth of a series of site specific interventions national and international artists made inside the church overlooking the Pisan Lungarni.

In the Church of the Spina, Pistoletto will create a work for Pisa, with the direct involvement of the city: an installation consisting of about 50 chairs, lent by citizens, which represent the symbolic form of the Third Paradise. The symbol of the Third Paradise, reconfiguration of the mathematical sign of the infinite, is composed of three consecutive circles. The two outer circles represent all the differences and antinomies, including nature and artifice. The central one is the interpenetration between the opposing circles and represents the generative womb of the new humanity, the starting point of a new era, where everyone assumes the responsibility of working to reach a level of planetary civilization where science, technology, art, culture and politics give new life to the planet Earth. The Third Paradise is the great myth that leads everyone to assume a personal responsibility in the global vision.

For the first time in the history of cultural initiatives that took place in Pisa, the Balearic Hall opens up to contemporary art, symbol of the political life of the city, which hosted the Municipal Council from the post-war period until a few years ago, when an intervention of restoration has cleaned the wall frescoes, attributed to Giacomo Farelli and Pier Dandini and made in 1693. The three frescoes represent as many victories of the Republic of Pisa: the conquest of Jerusalem during the First Crusade, the conquest of Sardinia and the taking of the Balearic Islands , freed by the Saracens in 1115.
In dialogue with these historical images, and also in the light of recent controversies followed by the contrary vote expressed by the City Council to the proposal to place a crucifix in the meeting room, Michelangelo Pistoletto presents the installation Il Tempo del Giudizio (2009), which ideally represents a temple in which the four great religions - Christianity, Buddhism, Islamism, Judaism - are induced to reflect on themselves. This work consists of a square-shaped building with rounded corners, and on each of the four major walls is a large mirror in which a symbol or a cult instrument is reflected frontally.

"The social and cultural value of the exhibition by Pistoletto, one of the greatest living Italian artists, has made possible the opening to the contemporary art of the Sala delle Baleari, symbolic and identity place of the city of Pisa, where the artist gives us a deep message of hope, which leads us to reflect on the very essence of monotheism "explains Ludovico Pratesi. "A message that is reinforced by the intervention of the Spina, which emphasizes the role of the church as a shared and shared space".

On the occasion of the inauguration, Michelangelo Pistoletto will meet the public in the Balearic Hall.


Inauguration: Sunday 27 May at 11.00


Michelangelo Pistoletto
The Time of Judgment
May 27th / August 31st 2018

Church of Santa Maria della Spina
Lungarno Gambacorti, Pisa
Hours Monday 10-13
Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday 15-19
Friday Saturday and Sunday 10-13 and 15-19

Sala delle Baleari of Palazzo Gambacorti
Piazza XX Settembre Pisa
Hours Monday 10-13
Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday 15-19
Friday and Saturday 10-13 and 15-19

Free entry
Information: cultura@comune.pisa.it

Press office
Matilde Meucci
+ 39 329 6321362 matilde.meucci@spaini.it