Il verso della Lumaca
Curated by Giulia Tornesello
Mirko Baselgia
Giovanni Bongiovanni
Dario Carratta
Gianluca Quaglia
Marta Ravasi
1/9unosunove is pleased to announce the opening of Il verso della Lumaca, a group exhibition curated by Giulia Tornesello that brings together the work of five artists whose practice is deeply connected to the natural world, its cycles of life and death, and its physical and material characteristics.
The exhibiting artists — Mirko Baselgia (Lantsch CH, 1982), Giovanni Bongiovanni (Augusta, 2001), Dario Carratta (Gallipoli, 1988), Gianluca Quaglia (Magenta, 1978) and Marta Ravasi (Lecco, 1987) — explore the profound connections between humanity, nature and art; they analyze their interwoven threads and genealogical ancestry and descendants, opening the possibility for the beauty of nettles and earthworms, forging relationships with both light and shadow.
Marta Ravasi creates her pictorial works in dialogue with light; her painting is slow and meditative, following the path of sunlight: the layering of color takes place at different times of day, and throughout the process the canvases are constantly moved within the studio spaces to capture the best beam of light each time. The subjects — almost camouflaged against the background in an elegantly rarefied composition — become mere pictorial pretexts for investigating the self and matter in a continuous flow dictated by the movement of the planet around the sun.
The works of Mirko Baselgia and Gianluca Quaglia seem to intertwine perfectly; both artists are fascinated by natural architectures and structures, observing the woody bodies of trunks and pinecones, the articulated structures of insect wings as sculptural elements to which they assign new value by echoing their forms in noble materials such as ceramic and bronze. Their works, highly evocative and symbolic, merge philosophy and science, craftsmanship and technology.
Dario Carratta and Giovanni Bongiovanni use figurative oil painting as a tool for intimate and dreamlike narratives; in Bongiovanni’s paintings, wild nature is depicted —a forest as ancient as futuristic, home to young figures who have become guardians of all nature and of humanity itself. As in a dystopian tale by J.G. Ballard, the young figures portrayed by Bongiovanni prepare the planet for a new beginning: they do not compete with nature, nor do they distinguish between buildable and fertile land, or divide weeds from useful plants. Rather, they carefully listen to every word spoken by the leaves and decided by the wind, for a coexistence in mutualistic symbiosis.
Dario Carratta’s characters are introspective and psychoanalytic, using natural elements as archetypes from which to generate a deep reflection on the unconscious and human relationships, following the Jungian method. The tones of his paintings are low and dim, evoking the image of a memory or the recollection of a dream. In his research and formalization, in the themes explored and the way the brushstrokes are laid, one can glimpse the great European masters of the twentieth century.
BIO
Mirko Baselgia (Lantsch, Switzerland, 1982) lives and works in Switzerland. He graduated from the Zurich University of the Arts with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Fine Arts. In 2007, he spent an exchange semester at IUAV University of Venice, an experience that deeply influenced his spatial and material approach. Since 2021, he has been working in a studio set up in a former mountain school, where, together with friends and colleagues, he founded the cultural association ACACA. Among various awards, he was awarded the Kiefer Hablitzel Grant (2012) and the Manor Art Prize (Chur, 2013). His most recent solo exhibitions include Pardis (Curzoin) at the Bellelay Abbey (2018), )in(out) till sundown at Kunst(Zeug)Haus in Rapperswil- Jona (2021), materia viva at Galerie Urs Meile in Lucerne and inner desert at museumbickel in Walenstadt (2022), INTERVENZIUN AVIEUL / Intervention Biene at KOENIGmuseum in Landshut and structura / system at Galerie Urs Meile in Ardez (2023). His works are regularly featured in group exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad and are part of numerous public and private collections, such as MUDAC in Lausanne, Kunstmuseum Olten, Bündner Kunstmuseum in Chur, Muzeum Susch, the Swiss National Bank, the Credit Suisse Collection, Zürcher Kantonalbank, the Roche Art Collection and the Burger Collection.
Giovanni Bongiovanni (Augusta, 2001) lives and works in Sicily. He graduated in Painting in 2023 from the Academy of Fine Arts of Catania. In January 2024, he was selected as a finalist in the 13th edition of the Prisma Art Prize; in 2023, he was selected for the National Arts Award at the Academy of Carrara. Selected group exhibitions include: Salon Palermo 4, Rizzuto Gallery, Palermo, 2024; Paradisiaca, Galleria Sacca, Modica, 2024. He began collaborating with the gallery 1/9unosunove in 2024, on the occasion of Arte in Nuvola (Rome).
Dario Carratta (Gallipoli, 1988) lives and works in Rome. He graduated in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. Notable exhibition projects include:The Sleepwalkers nostalgia, IRLGallery, new york, 2024,You were kept awake all through the night, British school at Rome 2024, Industria Indipendente —Klub Taiga (Dear Darkness), La Biennale di Venezia Teatro, Venice, 2020; In the making, Richter Fine Art, Rome, 2018; Angry Boys, Det Ny Kastet Museum, Thisted, 2018; Straperetana, Pereto, 2017; Sniff my leather jacket, Richter Fine Art, Rome, 2017; Artist in residence, Italian Ambassador Residence, Villa Firenze, Washington DC, 2017; Display, Katzen Art Center, Washington DC, 2017; Non amo che le rose che non colsi, Richter Fine Art, Rome, 2016; The Grass Grows, 74 Riehenstrasse, Basel, 2014; The Celeste Choice, Format Gallery, Milan, 2014; Petty Theft, Launch F18 Gallery, New York, 2013; Collateral Orbits, Allegranomad Gallery, Bucharest, 2013.
Gianluca Quaglia (Magenta, 1978) lives and works in Milan. His artistic activity focuses on reflections about the landscape and interaction with it. He collaborates with various cultural associations in Italy, America, France and Switzerland, develops contemporary art workshops and works with institutions and organizations for people with disabilities. Among his solo exhibitions: foresta/giardino, permanent exhibition at the Natural Science Museum of Domodossola (2021); a certain thing or another, curated by Luca Bochicchio, Asger Jorn Museum, Albissola (2018); the best place, curated by Antonio D’Amico, Villa Reale di Monza (2018). Group exhibitions include: la mia casa è piena di specchi, Mimmo Scognamiglio Gallery, Milan (2020); if bees are few, Mimmo Scognamiglio Gallery, Milan (2019); si les abeilles sont rares, Galerie Placido, Paris (2019). In 2017 he won the special prize of the Asger Jorn Museum at Arteam Cup and in 2014 was a finalist at Art Laguna Prize in the sculpture and installation category; his project The shadow and I was presented at Pulse Art Fair in New York in 2016.
Marta Ravasi (Lecco, 1987) lives and works in Milan. She studied at the Brera Academy, Milan (2007–2009); Hogeschool Sint Lukas, Brussels (2008) and Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL, London (2011–2012). Solo exhibitions include: Upcoming: Dans Les Yeux D’Elsa, Paris, 2024; Solo Geometry, Painter Painting Paintings, 2024; Marta Ravasi, Diez Gallery, Amsterdam, 2024; Bucce, Acappella, Naples, 2023; Planet Caravan, Sonnenstube, Lugano 2021; Violette di Marte, Fanta-MLN, Milan, 2017. Recent group exhibitions: Clipper Cuts, Brussels, 2025; NAR, Distance of the Rim, Tokyo, 2025; Le cose che non sappiamo, Galleria Romero Paprocki, Paris, 2025; Premio Cairo, Museo della Permanente, Milan, 2024; Familiar, Galleria Gauli Zitter, Brussels, 2024; AMO Project, Laura Bartlett for Ambra Medda, London, 2023; Pittura Italiana Oggi, curated by Damiano Gullì, Triennale, Milan, 2023.
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