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Omar galliani - 30 disegni dal deserto dei sogni
Added: (Thu Apr 26 2007)
30 Disegni dal Deserto dei Sogni
Omar Galliani
PRESS RELEASE INAUGURATION: FRIDAY 27 APRIL 2007 AT 6.30 PM
HASSAN MUSEUM 4, Avenue Mohamed Lyazidi, Villa Andalucia - Hassan, Rabat
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: 28 April � 27 May 2007
CHAIRED BY: Fathiya Tahiri
INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR Paolo De Grandis
IN COLLABORATION WITH: Arte Communications, Centro Italiano per le Arti e la Cultura, Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Morocco
CURATORS: Vincenzo Sanfo, Paolo De Grandis
The Hassan Museum, chaired by Fathiya Tahiri and directed at international level by Paolo De Grandis, is pleased to announce its third exhibition entitled �30 Disegni dal Deserto dei Sogni" ("30 Drawings from the Desert of Dreams�) by Omar Galliani. The exhibition presents a wide review of the expressive results achieved by the master from Emilia during his numerous stays in Morocco; this decision is symptomatic of the aims that the Museum has set itself ever since its opening, holding events that are intended to create a cultural bridge between Morocco, Italy and the rest of the world. All Omar Galliani�s work appears to play in a dialectic relationship between mental and visual language and this dialectic reveals an autonomous expressive trait which has a phenomenological independence of its own, while drawing is the means �par excellence�. Its figuration is therefore cultural and spiritual, it is both model and example, it is not just a sign, and certainly not an arbitrary sign, but it is the root of a communicative sense which leads to a common feeling without on this account wiping out differences. Morocco, like another world, one that is highly imaginative, where extraordinary stories were told, of wondrous riches, gilded palaces, burnt earth and perfumes of spices, is well suited to be the stage for this creative action. It is with this pleasure in discovery that Omar Galliani visited this land, allowing himself to be enveloped in unusual atmospheres, in sound effects and architectures which then triggered a vast artistic production that will be shown for the first time on the fascinating walls of Villa Andalucia, the home of the Museum. In Omar Galliani�s research, travelling, as well as being a source of inspiration, also shows an attempt to go beyond topographical limits in order to enlarge the view in depth and breadth until a cosmic dimension is achieved which becomes a metaphor of infinity and enables the onlooker to pass from the pleasure of escaping from the everyday world, or the pleasure of seeing again things that he already knows, to the anxiety that springs from the mystery of the unknown. Thirty sanguine and pastel drawings will be on show, the backgrounds ranging from red to burnt earth and deep blue will therefore accompany visitors through an itinerary filled with suggestions.
The exhibition, curated by Vincenzo Sanfo and Paolo De Grandis, is realised in collaboration with Arte Communications, the Centro Italiano per le Arti e la Cultura, and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Morocco.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Omar Galliani has become very successful in the last decade in the sphere of international contemporary art. He is a leading exponent of the group of anachronists, supported by Maurizio Calvesi, and of the Primary Magic movement of the critic Flavio Caroli; the anachronists refer to a typically Italian humanist culture, reformulating and contaminating iconographies and classical subjects. In the Eighties Galliani was invited to three editions of the Biennale in Venice; on the second occasion, in 1984, Calvesi presented him with a personal room in the section entitled �Art in the mirror�. Also in the Eighties, the artist took part in the Biennale of Sao Paolo in Brazil, had an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, at the Quadriennale in Rome, at the Gallery of Modern Art in Bologna, and at the Frankfurter Kunstverein in Frankfurt. In 1990 the Scottsdale Center for the Arts in Arizona invited him to the exhibition �Artists and hunger�. The Museum of Contemporary Art and the Marian Locks Gallery in Philadelphia presented a selection of his board works. The reviews continued in the Palazzo delle Stelline in Milan and at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Modena with a personal exhibition, while in 1993 Achille Bonito Oliva invited him to the Palazzo delle Esposizioni to the exhibition �Do all roads lead to Rome?�. Then there were reviews at the Museum of Modern Art in Budapest, in Peking, where a large personal exhibition of his works was held in 2000, and at the PAC in Milan. In 2003, after being invited to the Biennale in Prague, the artist took part in and won the first edition of the Peking Biennale with a monumental work, �New Anatomies�, set up in the China National Museum of Fine Arts. This recognition anticipated a series of personal exhibitions planned, between 2004 and 2006, in the contemporary art museums of Shanghai, Peking, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Kyoto, Buenos Aires, San Paolo, Mexico City, Miami and Los Angeles.
THE HASSAN MUSEUM:
THE LOCATION
The Hassan Museum, internationally directed by Paolo De Grandis and supervised by Fathiya Tahiri, Chairwoman of the Hassan Museum Foundation, is housed in the historic Villa Andalucia - built in 1929 - and the very name recalls the Spanish origins of its owners. The architectural structure and the decorations of the walls in Spanish-Moorish style bear witness to the building�s imposing historic and artistic heritage. Both the inside and the outside are decorated with mosaics and ceramics. There are important mosaics illustrating �The Glories of Spain� in the fifteenth century, partly reproducing some famous paintings by Diego Velasquez. The garden comprises green areas and covered environments, finely decorated with the typical Zellige mosaics and with five fountains, rich in mythological elements. The museum is an integral part of a programme of cultural renewal of the city of Rabat and of Morocco, the aims of which are to present internationally known artists, to promote local artists, and to collaborate with the major institutions operating in the sector.