Sliding is an exhibition project created by CUBO, the Unipol Group corporate museum, that encourages reflection on interdisciplinarity and the continuous evolution of artistic languages. The exhibition opens with a group of five works belonging to the Group's artistic heritage, created by Beverly Pepper, Quayola, Larry Rivers, Stefano Ronci and fuse*, and selected for their ability to radically innovate and experiment with form.
While these works are distinct in terms of poetics, format and historical period – from the 1960s to the present day – they share connections and expressive similarities that justify the dialogue between them. From steel sculptures to neon installations, from 3D scans to wooden collages, to multimedia installations, every piece is an autonomous yet interconnected part of a wider discourse that goes through different expressive codes and artistic forms.
The title Sliding – inspired by a section of the 1993 Venice Biennale in which Larry Rivers and Beverly Pepper also participated – alludes both to the concept of "flow", whereby the works on display will alternate over time, and to the idea of an "exchange" between languages. The aim is not only to show the coexistence of different techniques and styles, but also to emphasise the blurring of boundaries between different forms of expression that, by intertwining, lead to new fusions and ways of perceiving reality.
Consequently, the exhibition is an invitation to explore the fluidity between the natural and the artificial, art and the environment, the real and the virtual. Each piece goes beyond the boundaries of its own discipline, inspiring new meanings and encouraging the onlooker to reflect on the complexity of contemporary art and the world around it. In this state of constant motion between the past, present and future, SLIDING perfectly embodies the spirit with which the Unipol Artistic Heritage was created: a living museum, in an ongoing dialogue with time and reality.
The multi-faceted artist Larry Rivers, who has experimented with various artistic media throughout his career, can be found with Features of Italy from 1961, a geographical representation of national identity reinterpreted with a touch of irony.
Art and environment come together in Virgo, rectangle twist, 1967, by Beverly Pepper, where the static nature of sculpture becomes dynamic torsion and the force of matter is woven together with the lightness of movement.
Quayola in PP_T011.A12 - 3D Scans Series, 2016, drifts between the physical and the digital, creating a new dimension where traditional art forms are revisited through technology.
In DiecialCUBO, 2022, Stefano Ronci combines and integrates contemporary languages, materials and forms, exploring the relationship between space, artwork and the viewer in a physical and conceptual blurring of boundaries.
fuse*, which focuses on interdisciplinary design, combining architecture, design, art and technology, featuring the surreal illustrations of Artificial Botany-Unseen Flora, 2023, represents an intersection between the natural and digital world, the real and artificial, the truth and post-truth.
