What is a city? That is the question at the heart of the latest collaboration between the Bardini Foundation and Lucia Fiaschi, curator of the show OltreCittà: Utopias and Reality along with Bruno Corà, Silvia Mantovani and Claudia Bucelli. Spread over two floors of Villa Bardini, 126 works by a myriad of modern and contemporary artists offer thought-provoking answers.
Open until January 19, 2025 and featuring heavy hitters like Sol LeWitt, Boccioni, Burri, de Chirico, Le Corbusier and Pistoletto, the exhibit is divided into 12 themed sections presenting different creative perspectives on the built environment. These include “Utopias”, “Hostile City” and “City Maps”, and each section is enriched by quotes from likes of Calvino, Yourcenar and Hemingway to drive home the poetic, conceptual and philosophical underpinnings.
Though international artists are present, the wide-ranging show is weighted in favor of Italian artists and pieces from Italian collections from the 20th and 21st centuries. Like a microcosm of the contemporary city, the exhibit presents dynamic and changing images and ideas of the urban landscape conveyed through every imaginable medium, from drawing, painting and sculpture, to video, sound art and design.
Considering that three of the four curators are women and that a core theme is the centrality of the human being, it is disappointing that so few female artists are included (eight, including three in art duos with men, out of 107). The bilingual texts and titles also perpetuate the default “man” as a stand-in for humankind (e.g. “The City of Man” section). However, the sheer range of works is exhilarating and the show offers something for everyone. Deep thinkers can augment their visit with a thoroughly researched catalog, the result of years-long preparation, along with a series of public conversations scheduled throughout this fall. Fans of explanatory texts will appreciate the complimentary pamphlet detailing the show’s 12 sections. Plus, kids can creatively re-imagine their own cities using the free “traveler’s notebook” available just for them.
Highlights include Houses Under Construction by Futurist painter Boccioni; Lombardi’s 21-piano symphony on Florence’s via Tornabuoni; Berio, Maderna and Leydi’s audio portrait of Milan waking up; John Cage’s 49 Waltzes for the Five Boroughs; and Castellani’s The Cinematic City, a compilation of city scenes from iconic films made especially for the exhibit. The curators designed it so that visitors become at once protagonists and spectators, inviting us to explore the show as we might a new city, by getting lost and following our senses, what attracts and intrigues us, rather than a map or a plan.
For many Florence is emblematic of the ideal city, so the stunning view of it from Villa Bardini’s charming gardens forms the perfect backdrop. It’s also the subject of Gerhard Richter’s Firenze III/XII, exhibited here for the first time and chosen to represent the show. Not only does it portray the city’s movement and dynamism as though seen from a train, but it also reminds us that we are the ones who cause such change.
