My activity as an independent curator complements my theoretical engagement with the arts. Getting to work with artists and their creations is a deeply enriching experience. And my philosophical theorizing profit tremendously from this first-hand exposure to the practicality of the arts. I cannot imagine anymore to go without it. And I'm also persuaded that my philosophical background can fruitfully inform what I do as a curator.

Through an in-depth study of the Chinese metropolis, Barbieri has explored in real life the world he imagined in his paintings: fast trains cutting like sharp blades through smoky urban territories, where overhead cables hanging from electric poles connect like ghostly hair menacing skyscrapers. But in his production after Nanjing, for the first time, historical buildings also appear: pagodas, temples, and ancient towers peek in and interrupt the post-industrial skyline. We are beyond the dystopia: now, we live in a world that is more complex, where tradition and modernity are in dialogue, light coexists with darkness, and life as nature not only reveals itself within the interstices of the spectral city, but sometimes dominates it.

By walking through the streets of China, Barbieri has faced his own duplicity. In the walls of Nanjing, Beijing, Shanghai, and Wuxi he has seen his own reflection, but did not fall into Narcissus’ trap. Rather than losing himself, he has brought back into the studio his alter-ego. From this uncanny meeting with a familiar “stranger,” he has learned much about himself and his art. His artistic view has become wider, his style braver, and his pictorial gesture firmer. In his journey through an alien culture and through his different voices, Barbieri has found the fundamental tone that harmonizes all the complex and polyphonic melodies simultaneously resonating in his individual personality. Now, his hand can hold a paintbrush as if it were a spray can, and vice versa. As a prophecy of this newly found unity, a calligraphy of his name -- though in Chinese (弗朗切斯科 – fú lǎng qiè sī kē) and not in the style of graffiti – appears in one of the paintings included in this exhibition, entitled Black Bright Cut. An amphibious creature, Barbieri has discovered that he can breathe on dry land and underwater.

Il Museo Ugo Guidi - MUG e gli Amici del Museo Ugo Guidi Onlus presentano la mostra “Esperienza Cina” degli artisti toscani Marcello Bertini, Agostino Cancogni, Domenico Monteforte e Armando Xhomo che hanno soggiornato in Cina presso l’Università di Nanchino. Gli artisti hanno partecipato al Jinling Artist-in-Residence Program promosso dalla Provincia del Jiangsu e dall’Art Institute of Nanjing University. I nostri artisti hanno vissuto e lavorato a Nanchino per un mese grazie a questo programma, coordinato dal Prof. Xian Zhou, con la collaborazione in Italia – tra gli altri – di UNISER (Campus di Pistoia), dell’Università di Pisa e del Museo Ugo Guidi. Nelle prima delle quattro mostre organizzate all’interno del Jinling Program, hanno esposto le loro opere anche Fabio Grassi e Piero Mosti.

Questa mostra è a cura e presentazione di Andrea Baldini, professore incaricato presso l’Università di Nanchino e coordinatore del Jinling Program, che ha seguito e organizzato le varie esposizioni degli artisti presso l’Università e le diverse gallerie e musei cinesi.


L’ esposizione con inaugurazione domenica 14 febbraio alle ore 17 sarà visitabile fino al 3 marzo al MUG nei giorni successivi su appuntamento al 348020538  o  museougoguidi@gmail.com.

This is the last exhibition of the Jinling Program for the 2015. It includes works from our 7 resident artists: Francesca Banchelli, Francesco Barbieri, Marcello Bertini, Agostino Cancogni, Federico Gori, Domenico Monteforte, and Armando Xhomo.

In 2016, we hope to bring these works in a tour throughout China.