“The relevance of a metamorphosis” is a temporary exhibition of object books, created by the Belluno artists Flavio Da Rold, Alfonso Lentini, and Giorgio Vazza, where books lose their function as vehicles of knowledge and become works of art that can be admired on the noble floor of Palazzo Doglioni. The exhibition is part of the series “Books on Rafts”

“The Relevance of a Metamorphosis” presents books as objects created by Flavio Da Rold, Alfonso Lentini, and Giorgio Vazza, artists residing in Belluno and active at the national and international level in this important sector of contemporary art.

The book as an object is a form of art whose origins date back to Futurism and the avant-garde movements of the twentieth century, but it remains a lively and vibrant reality today.

Intertwined with other modes of verbo-visual experimentation such as visual poetry or asemic writing, this particular line of research clearly differs from the traditional “artist’s book” as it removes the book from its specific function, renders it “illegible,” and converts it into an autonomous work of art.

By subjecting the book to metamorphoses, hybridizations, and distortions, artists from all over the world have created original and startling works to be enjoyed with an open gaze free from schematics.

Books as objects have been produced by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Fortunato Depero, Bruno Munari, Enrico Baj, Emilio Isgrò, Irma Blank, Giosetta Fioroni, Maria Lai, Mirella Bentivoglio, Yoko Ono, Guy Debord, Joseph Kosuth, Sol LeWitt, and many others.

Today, with the advent of digital technology, communication is dematerializing, and the printed book is no longer, as it has been for centuries, the primary means of transmitting knowledge.

An artistic operation that places the material component of the book at its center is therefore very current because, by performing a metamorphosis that transforms the book into a work of art, it focuses attention on its physical structure and initiates a reflection on the other ongoing transformations in the world of communication.

Flavio Da Rold was born in 1945 in Belluno, where he lives and works. In the early 1970s, he attended the studio of artist Antonio Bassetto, where he trained as a painter. After various abstract and informal experiences in painting, his artistic research shifted toward the field of installation.

Using natural materials such as wood, iron, and concrete, along with a constant presence of color, he creates three-dimensional works that always interact with space, time, and memory, aiming to establish a correct and balanced relationship between art and territory.

Throughout his research, he has also created numerous books as objects. In the late 1980s, he was one of the founders of the “ZED group” and subsequently of the “ALTA QUOTA” group, with which he participated in important events including the Venice Biennale.

He was one of the founders of the contemporary art exhibition “Portici Inattuali,” which took place in Sitran d’Alpago from 1989 to 2001.

Alfonso Lentini (Favara, 1951) was formed in the atmosphere of the Sicilian neo-avant-gardes of the late twentieth century.

Since the late 1970s, he has lived in Belluno. His activity spans from the visual arts to writing.

In his numerous exhibitions and installations held in Italy and abroad, he presents books as objects, verbo-visual and asemic writings, artists’ books, and generally works based on the valorization of words in their material and gestural dimensions. His first solo exhibition dates back to 1976.

As part of a collective project on poetry curated by Marco Nereo Rotelli, he participated in the 49th Venice Biennale in 2001. In 2013, together with Aurelio Fort, he created the international artistic project “Resist to Re/exist,” culminating in a large urban installation in the streets and squares of Belluno.

His most recent book is “We are the Wolf-Fish” (pièdimosca editions 2023).

Giorgio Vazza (Longarone, 1952) lives in Sitran d’Alpago BL. His research develops through drawing, painting, installations, land art, and books as objects. He was among the artistic directors of the contemporary art exhibition “Portici Inattuali” (Sitran 1989-2001).

He is present in significant artistic events in Italy and abroad, including the “46th International Art Biennale of Venice” (1995), “Topolò Station” (Topolò, UD 1994 and 1997), “Humus Park” (PN 2014 and 2016 with F. Da Rold).

In 2001, he conceived and created the installation DNA Shell Cathedral with artists Da Rold and Ricci, inaugurated at the Belluno Hospital by Nobel Prize winner Rita Levi Montalcini.

In 2023, he realized the official image for the 27th edition of the festival “Beyond the Peaks,” where he presents his solo exhibition Reflected Places. Notably, in the field of drawing and painting is the project Wandering Pasture, a series of paintings and drawings on the theme of transhumance.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Saturday, March 29 at 5:00 PM, with a critical intervention by Serena Dal Borgo, and is part of the series “Books on Rafts.”

For more information, contact segreteria@borgopiaveetc.it.