PEHHIA. E LA GRANDE ONDA

The first exhibition produced in 2023 by the Foundation is dedicated to Claudio Gaddini, an artist from Lucca, born in 1973, who bends the rigor of abstract languages to the sentiment of nature and to the procedural pleasure of artistic practice, capable of creating spaces of sudden clarity between revelation and vision.

The exhibition, located on the first floor of the Foundation, includes around twenty previously unseen works, all created between 2019 and 2022. The installation follows a slightly undulating movement, in reference to the exhibition title—Pehhia. And the Great Wave—chosen by the artist as an homage to the city of Pescia (pehhia, in Lombard toponymy, meaning “river”) and to its connection with water, which covers, purifies, and transforms all things.

The works on display belong to two cycles: Human Geographies and Carpets, both characterised by the use of polyethylene mesh—an industrial by-product, pliable and translucent. As in Gaddini’s earlier work, the synthetic material interacts with natural elements such as small stones or reclaimed wooden fragments, in an ongoing search for new possible balances to safeguard a landscape that is gradually disintegrating.

The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual Italian/English catalogue published by Fondazione POMA Liberatutti in the PomArte series, curated by Marta Convalle with a preface by Paolo Trinci, a critical text by Chiara Serri, and a rich iconographic section. The volume will be presented to the public on Saturday, 11 March 2023.

Vernissage: 9 February 2023, 18:00