ATELIER ARO

Year: 2024

Place: Gagliardi e Domke, Turin, Italy

Curator Pietro Gagliardi

Works:
Labyrinth Just me Plantas doradas Paisajes Rojos Ecos botanicos

Atelier Aro is an exhibition almost entirely made up of unpublished works. How did it come about and which of these exhibited are the ones you consider most representative, can you tell us about them?
The exhibition is divided into two parts, one with works such as drawings, glass, engraved glass, gouache and the other with the large installation Labyrinth created at the invitation of Domenico Maria Papa, for Art Site Fest.
Among the works in different materials there is Notizie di Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas e altri cronisti which although they are made in a neutral technique and if you want bourgeois and complacent, the subject is not. History is always subjective, fragmentary and constructed by those who have held power. This work is a visual exercise of critical gaze on colonialism.

The labyrinth is a topic that has always been of interest for the artist, because it combines a powerful image with an equally strong meaning. One of the many symbols of the labyrinth is communication with the deities. As we know, the labyrinth is the archetype of different symbolic, iconographic and ritual aspects in prehistoric cultures as well as in ancient, medieval and modern ones. In many civilizations the labyrinth represents the itinerary to follow to reach wisdom, the journey of life after having passed a test, like a rite of passage. The challenge and the test of the self and above all the path. the symbol of a reality of life. It is in life that you have to make the journey. This entire labyrinth is made of fabric because textiles are not only an element of symbolic translation, but also as an action and artifact of social relations. Kerényi writes that to understand the labyrinth we must imagine it inside ourselves.

The choice of material is essential for Aro’s work, it accurately expresses many of her thoughts. Aro uses velvet because it concretely represents the power and strength of beauty. The texture of velvet, from the first touch, evokes an exquisite and gentle sensation that recalls intimacy and delicacy, two intrinsic peculiarities of all her work that help her to get in touch with the viewer. Aro’s sculptures are very physical, they are usually large velvet installations that evoke a sophisticated and ancestral memory.