per l’eternità. Premessa per una trilogia
Fondazione La Rocca in Pescara, chaired by Ottorino La Rocca, is pleased to present Luca Vitone’s solo exhibition, “per l’eternità.” Premise for a trilogy, curated by Francesca Guerisoli, artistic director of the foundation. The exhibition, which will be open to the public from March 8 to May 30, 2025, invites a deep immersion in the poetics of Vitone, among the main protagonists of the contemporary Italian art scene.
Genovese, born in 1964, already winner of several national and international awards including, in 2018 with Romanistan, the Italian Council call for entries announced by the General Directorate of Contemporary Creativity of Mibact, and the 2002 Dena Foundation Award, Luca Vitone lives and works between Milan and Berlin. His works, which range from sculpture to installation and from photography to video, have been exhibited in major public and private museums both in Italy andabroad such as the Weserburg Museum in Bremen (2020), MAXXI in Rome and Villa Adriana in Tivoli (2021) or, again, in 2022 the Museo Novecento in Florence and the Museu de Arte Contemporanea da Universidade de São Paulo.
Vitone’s artistic activity is characterized by a strong conceptual component and special attention to the context in which the works are made. Among his most significant works is “per l’eternità,” which he created, in collaboration with Maria Candida Gentile, for the Italian Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013, curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi. In Pescara, the entire body of work created from this achromatic monolfactive sculpture will be presented for the first time in a single project.
The subtitle “Premise for a trilogy” refers to the fact that “per l’eternità” was the first of three consecutive projects by Vitone based on the sense of smell, on exploring the relationship between memory, place and sensory perception in relation to power. “per l’eternità” (2013) as economic power, “Imperium” (2014) to represent the state, “A Tale of forked tongues” (2017) that of military authority. Each of these focuses on the ability of smell to activate memories and deep connections, challenging the traditional boundaries of contemporary art. In particular, the smell that characterizes per l’eternità, obtained from the combination of two notes of rhubarb, will permeate the air of a room in the La Rocca Foundation, symbolically evoking eternity.
From March 8, 2025, the complete series of works dedicated to this theme will be presented, including also the sculpture “per l’eternità (eternit)”, the video “per l’eternità”, made in 2013, a visual and narrative testimony of Casale Monferrato, the place where one of the Eternit company’s factories stood. There will also be photographic collages, including an unpublished triptych made for the Pescara foundation.
In Vitone’s words, “per l’eternità (Pescara) is a photographic triptych composed of a collage with rhubarb plants that fill the space of the foundation. The visualization of what happens with the smell of eternit composed of rhubarb fragrances that invades the space creating a huge but invisible sculpture.” Also enriching the exhibition is another unpublished work by the artist, Stanze (La Rocca Foundation), “a portrait of the exhibition space executed with dust coming directly from the place itself, that which is deposited daily on the various surfaces and which when removed is immediately replaced by other similar ones. A metaphorical element of our living and the spaces we inhabit.” The cycle of works titled “per l’eternità,” like the olfactory sculptures and generally monochromes with non-pigments or unconventional pigments, began precisely with paintings executed with interior powders.
Twelve years after his first exhibition at the Venice Biennale, Luca Vitone once again invites us to a deep reflection on the tragedy of asbestos with his installation “per l’eternità.” The intense scent of rhubarb that will envelop the exhibition space proposes an immersive experience, evoking the dust of Eternit, to transport us to the heart of Casale Monferrato by confronting us with the consequences of an environmental disaster that is still open. The work thus becomes a powerful and topical symbol that questions the public about the tragedy still unfolding. The process is still ongoing and the death toll, unfortunately, persistent.
