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2 190 Fahrenheit

On the edge of volcanoes

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2 190 Fahrenheit: On the edge of volcanoes 
Exhibition view at Arcipèlago Gallery
©Matteo Lavazza Seranto

On the edge of volcanoes 

​Volcanoes - the grand power of nature. From the beginning of civilization, they have been a compelling subject of study to art, literature and science and continue to offer inspiration, awe and mystique to the present day. The creative space Arcipèlago, brings together a collection of works from the genres of photography, sculpture and painting that explore this fascinating theme.
 
With paintings by Francesco Poiana, sculptures by Sonia Armellin, photographs by Gaia Cantarutti, Luigi Chiapolino, Vittorio Franzolini, Antonio Raciti, Max Rommel, Bartolomeo Rossi, Omar Sartor; historical document from the early XX century, video archives of vulcanologists Maurice and Katia Krafft; this exhibition offers a visual spectacle. 
 
In this Gold Circle showcase we talk to Charlotte Menard, co-curator of the exhibition, who shares her insights about the exhibition and curation of works. 
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​Talk to us about the idea behind this exhibition and how it developed?

​The project "2 190. Fahrenheit" was born in a flash when we discovered by chance the archival footages of Maurice and Katia Krafft. They were a couple of adventurous volcanologists who came back from their expeditions with images of unbelievable beauty. No one had ever hazarded so close to magma. Their pictures and films are so powerful that they may act as a symbol of the human condition: on the verge of a volcanic explosion, we can only accept the pure beauty of nature and the terror that it produces. The volcano is the only natural element that remains untouchable, inviolable. In front of it, man can only measure his impotence. These images have made us "click" and the project was instantly born.

As in a book by Jules Verne, we set out on an "expedition" from the depths of the Earth to the pyroclastic clouds to understand the different phenomena of volcanic activity that we knew little or nothing about. These researches opened a window into true geological contemplation. We immersed ourselves in this mass of images and information with an adolescent enthusiasm. We were seized by the splendour of a primordial Earth, made of cracks, roars, gas and sulphur, unstable slag, sharp blocks, and greasy rain of black ash. We were very attracted by the idea of ecstasy and hell, pure beauty and significant threat that one can feel on volcanoes' edge. But above all, we wished to pay homage to nature's astonishing power and wildest beauty. In a world that is going mad, it is a relief to contemplate volcanoes' permanence and timeless splendour of which we will never be masters. 

Francesco Poiana, Untitled (Terra di Dio) # 6, 2022 © Francesco Poiana 

2 190 Fahrenheit: On the edge of volcanoes 
Exhibition view at Arcipèlago Gallery
©Matteo Lavazza Seranto

​This exhibition brings together works by nine artists working on different mediums - painting, photography, sculpture, historical documentation and video, all representing the grand phenomena of volcanic activity. How did you select these works? 

​It was very easy to construct this exhibition because the subject has an energy in itself that attracts everyone as a magnet. We have been gladly surprised by a beautiful game of coincidences where almost everything arrived without overthinking.

The encounter with artist Francesco Poiana has been the exhibition's starting point. His series of watercolours depict inner landscapes from the centre of the Earth; they tell this colossal and inexhaustible flow of energy that sways under our feet. We have been immediately seized by their intensity and poetry.

It was natural to invite the sculptor Sonia Armellin who works with clay, fire, water, smoke, and ashes. She literally shapes her sculptures with these primitive forces, ephemerals and unexpected, as on the edge of a volcano.

On the other hand, we wanted to dig into the myths and legends surrounding the volcanoes and express their ghostly and metaphysical presence. We've met simultaneously with photographer Bartolomeo Rossi who worked in Iceland, and the photographers' collective "Cernaia, who realized a project on the Stromboli. Their mysterious and muffled images create an intimate dialogue with the volcanos where time seems totally suspended. They were the perfect counterpoint to Francesco Poiana's magmatic travel.

As we were digging into this "silent" and contemplative approach, photographer Omar Sartor got in touch with us for another project. We realized that Omar captured volcanoes all around the globe. Hawaii's cooled lava flows, Lanzarote's lunar landscapes, Etna basalt bombs and opaque fog, thousands of images of an incredible force... We were both amazed to meet at this exact moment! 

Of course, our geological journey also had to be red as the blazing lava. That's how we invited photographer Antonio Raciti who photographs the wrath of Etna almost from its window. Our long-time friend Max Rommel also joined us with an image of Etna’s crater by night, a print that he offered us a few months ago, before the birth of the exhibition. Again, pure coincidence.

We were also very keen to find historical documents, in order to create a dialogue between representation, imagination, testimony and realness. 

2 190 Fahrenheit: On the edge of volcanoes 
Exhibition view at Arcipèlago Gallery
©Matteo Lavazza Seranto

Sonia Armellin, from the sculptural series 'Merapi', 2022

Sonia Armellin, from the sculptural series 'Merapi', 2022

​Are there common elements amongst these works of art that bring synergy to the exhibition?

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All these artworks contain a magnetic force, a sepulchral and timeless splendour that tell, each in its own way, the majesty of an indomitable nature. We wished to construct “2190 Fahrenheit” not as an art exhibition, rather as a journey in the heart of the earth, an exploration towards immemorial time, a discovery of the primitive world. It is above all a tribute to Nature and its incandescent energy that follows, unstoppable its own course. Looking at the show, looking at every artwork, video and document, one can only feel the force of the Earth and how small we are.
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​Volcanoes have been the source of inspiration for myths and legends since the begging of civilisation and across different cultures. Is there an intention to pay a homage to the rich storytelling that feeds volcanic scientific research? And what is the role of art plays in this?

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Volcanoes are the land of imagination and poetry. A place where one can apprehend the notion of the sublime. They are the perfect connexion of nature’s majesty and human inventiveness who always shapes new mythologies, new gods and new demons. And it is true that, looking into a crater is looking into the only point of access to the centre of earth, a place where no one will ever go, a place that will keep forever its mysteries. Volcanoes are very fascinating and of course very enigmatic as they retain inside themselves so many doubts, fears and theories. There is a sense of deeper truth shaped by all the stories and legends that were born on the edge on volcanos that directly feed our collective imagination, the cosmologies that humankind has built. They are accepted as a truth, not as a fact. 

“There’s something visceral about peering into an abyss. Standing on the side of a volcano, you can hear it rumble and feel it shake. People have used the same words to describe volcanoes for millennia. They offer this feeling of an awesome power that’s unlike anything you can experience elsewhere on Earth.” (Professor David Pyle | University of Oxford). This sense of deeper truth is of course very linked to art that give us access to a hidden reality, a reality that is here, invisible, and that artists continue to catch to share it to the world.
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Luigi Chiapolino, Stromboli, 2021 © Luigi Chiapolino

​Volcanoes are the explosive force, creating and altering the earth’s landscape en masse. Would you say that 3D representation in art of this subject matter is stronger than 2D? 

I think one can just see Antonio Raciti’s images of Etna’s pyrotechnical fluxes of lava to clearly apprehend the extreme power of volcanic outbursts. No need to go on 3D. As a matter of fact, the image I cherish the most is the one of Mont Saint Helens’ explosions in 1980 that is part of the exhibition. Looking at it, you can feel the blast right up to your hair.
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Antonio Raciti
La colata [Fornazzo, Milo - Catania] / 2021
Giclée art print 28 x 22 cm on Vision Fine Art paper
Edition of 5

​Tell us a little bit about the acclaimed British volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer and his contribution to this exhibition. 

During the preparation of 2190 Fahrenheit, we were fortunate to meet Peter Zeitlinger. Peter is the director of photography of Werner Herzog, with whom he filmed some of the most beautiful volcanoes for the magnetic documentary “Into the Inferno”. With a bewildering simplicity, Peter introduced us to Clive Oppenheimer, a British volcanologist and co-author of the documentary. And with the very same spontaneity and genuineness, Clive agreed to travel up to Udine to share his experiences and passion with the public. 

Meeting him has been an incredible opportunity to explore in a whole other level this fascinating theme. I keep a great image of the public, listening to Clive’s incredible stories, eyes wide opened as if they were all children again. How nice it was. This is the exact purpose of our “Arcipèlago”: to establish new links without any hierarchization, explore unconventional themes, and mix together curious spirits, adventurers and real enthusiasts. We all keep a wonderful souvenir of this very particular afternoon. 

Clive also wrote a text for the catalogue, where one can immediately feel how subtle, intuitive and unpretentious he is. I must say that it is pretty rare to meet people as sincere and accessible as him. 

2 190 Fahrenheit: On the edge of volcanoes 
Exhibition view at Arcipèlago Gallery
©Matteo Lavazza Seranto

​What are the key influences and inspirations in your curatorial practice?

Well, to be honest we have a very simple approach. We start a project only if we have an intuition, a love at first sight. We don’t shape our exhibitions; we don’t force the materials into our ideas. We always keep all windows and doors open to new paths. It is wildly imaginative and free. The real basis is the images themselves, nothing else. 

We don’t spend hours reading artists' statements; we prefer to construct, as in a collage on a white wall, a melting pot of images, artworks, documents. And, at one precise moment, the whole project is formed, almost by itself.

This approach may be a response to the hours spent in the galleries in Paris, where I saw wonderful shows but where I always very felt intimidated and perhaps bored by the all the discourses that were always built around the installations and artworks. As if it was always necessary to explain the approach, the why and the how, and the more complicated it was, the more “hype” it was becoming. To be very honest, I spent much more time dreaming into the Natural History Museum rather than in contemporary art galleries! 
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With Arcipèlago, Artemio and I wish to realize projects exactly as we intend, with this simple approach, and to share the things we cherish the most: wild nature, powerful images and inspiring people.
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Vittorio Franzolini, Sciara del Fuoco [Stromboli], 2021 © Vittorio Franzolini

2.190° Fahrenheit 
On the edge of volcanoes 
Arcipèlago - Udine
www.galleria-arcipèlago.com 
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Exhibiting artists include:
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​Francesco Poiana, Sonia Armellin, Gaia Cantarutti, Luigi Chiapolino, Vittorio Franzolini, Antonio Raciti, Max Rommel, Bartolomeo Rossi, Omar Sartori and historical document from the early 20th century, video archives of vulcanologists
​Maurice and Katia Krafft.

Exhibition images by:
​©Matteo Lavazza Seranto
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​Charlotte Ménard

​Charlotte Ménard worked for fifteen years in Paris in modern and contemporary art, collaborating with major publishing houses and artist studios. For seven years she was responsible for the exhibitions and collection at the Yves Klein Foundation and accompanied the artist’s artworks in the world’s largest museums. A year ago, she left Paris and its small bistros to settle in Udine and discover the liveliness of Friuli.

Arcipèlago

​Arcipelago is a creative space located within the graphic studio Designwork in Udine, founded by Artemio Croatto and Charlotte Menard and inaugurated in May 2021. A spontaneous space that celebrates creativity in all its forms and where art can be appreciated cheerfully. Defined "ephemeral" - Arcipelago opens without any constraints of program. The events depend on the themes that the founders want to deepen, depending on what arouses their curiosity. ​

​​www.galleria-arcipelago.com