Galleria Michela Rizzo is pleased to present Una figura continua a cercarmi, a solo exhibition by Ludovico Bomben.

Every work presented by Ludovico Bomben in this exhibition requires an act of engagement in order to be fulfilled, understood as the relationship between context and viewer that is established through the works. This obvious premise should not overshadow the expressive impulse contained within them; rather, the result of the exhibition necessarily inscribes itself in  the reciprocity initiated by the artist.

Ludovico Bomben’s research has been clearly defined for many years; it reveals explicit references to iconology and iconography, to the combination of techniques and technical precision, and to the formal rigor that embraces all these elements. At first glance, the works might be dismissed as simple formal exercises; however, each piece in this solo exhibition requires a cognitive effort, even minimal, to complete it. This should not be understood as a lack, but as a deliberate necessity: leaving a margin of indeterminacy in the work’s completion.

Starting from the installation that gives the exhibition its title, Una figura continua a cercarmi, we find ourselves in a room surrounded by gold-leaf lettering applied directly to the walls. We should be able to complete the reading of the sentence simply by moving our gaze along the entire perimeter, yet we will never be able to position ourselves in space in order to see it in its entirety. As we memorize the full meaning of the phrase, the reflection of our own figure merges with each articulated word and disappears into the whiteness of the wall. Are we perhaps that figure?

Similarly, in the series Seme, a 24-karat gold seed, extreme closeness to the work is not enough to grasp its form. Its completeness can only be achieved through a tool capable of magnifying its features. Perhaps this is the first time the artist offers us an instrument to access the work’s precision.

That seed is completed inside packaging designed to contain 100 specimens, a modest quantity compared to the work Sèma, where, by immersing one’s hands into a black parallelepiped, one can feel a large quantity of (real) seeds.

Here, the dichotomy between a living element such as the seed and its placement within a sculpture resembling a coffin seems explicit (Sèma means tombstone). These three works - though I would include a fourth, Lacrime #1 and #2 - differ completely from Ludovico’s more widely recognized research. In them I found a fuller enactment of the interplay between undeniable formal skill, spatial management, and the active (non-passive) role of the viewer.

The exhibition path is enriched by other works, such as the print series Sema #1, in which deep blacks are enhanced by mirrored brass inserts that open onto the illusion of archetypal geometries. These black silhouettes change their form depending on the light that strikes them. Some of their geometries allude to well-defined solids, almost re-nameable as synthetic representations of menhirs. In this series of prints, it is evident how the composition refers back to the etymology of the term “sema” (as minimal linguistic unit) and its declinations between semantics and sign.

Ludovico seems to take steps backward to recover essentiality, reducing the extension of the sign to a minimum in favor of form.

In the following room, on the wall, Pioggia d’oro (Golden Rain) returns to the formal precision of the Fendenti series. Here too, the installation evokes a strong iconography, blending matter and form in a sign that wounds—or a rain that fertilizes.

Beside it, on a pedestal, the material of the sculpture becomes both container and content of an experience. Lacrime #1 excludes any reference to the outside world, drawing perception toward an intimate gesture. The glass sculpture suggests, and the wall piece underscores, how an emotional practice can become language, and how a sculpture can be an object through which to have an experience. Its forms and materials bring the body closer to a knowledge that is no longer one of passive reception but of active engagement.

Although this work may appear somewhat detached from the rest of the exhibition, it once again suggests how our perception of ourselves within a context may pass either through contemplation of the other or through our own practical action.

For this solo exhibition by Ludovico Bomben, I had to confront a strange balance: the positive sensation that each work aimed to destabilize the first impression.

The apparent intuition that one must move toward and into the work to complete its meaning; that each form may become figure only by shifting one’s gaze, moving our reflection toward it.

I found myself wondering (and asking the artist himself), regarding the new works presented in this exhibition: who is this figure? (that keeps searching for me):

“You are looking at something you are not yet ready to confront, something you do not yet want to name. You circle around it and keep all of us circling. Sometimes you make us step back to see the whole; other times you bring us closer, forcing us into the particular. Are we the instrument by which to measure your works?”

Leaving the exhibition behind, it seems to me that Ludovico wanted to articulate the possibilities that sculpture offers, in order to move beyond its utopia of world, space, place. An immediate language made of iconic chimeras. Objects that may be signs or instruments, images without scale, or rooms expanded by reflection. What is the best perception of this accomplished illusion? Are we the ones moving through these experiences, or do they move through us? Is Ludovico’s work matter or idea?