Le memorie di un istante - Paola Rizzi

From January 24, 2025, Numm Contemporary Art in Casale Monferrato (AL) will host the solo exhibition of Paola Rizzi, "The Memories of an Instant," curated by Erika Lacava. Over 80 photographic works present an overview of the artist’s recent research from 2018 to today, selected with a thematic focus on memory as a crucial element around which her artistic journey unfolds.

The artworks, distributed across 9 series of varying formats, are printed on different types of paper and supports, from cotton to rice paper, parchment to handcrafted cement. Numerous manual interventions by the artist on the prints render them unique works, experimenting with combinations and crossovers between photography and other arts.

In the series "Assonances," created during the pandemic, we find the use of watercolor, evoking elements of nature juxtaposed with partial self-portraits of the artist, giving the works an almost dreamlike dimension; the hot scratching technique in the "Erase" project, where Rizzi performs image erasures that simulate loss of sight, creating streaks that bring the work closer to engraving; and the insertion of photographs on small drum frames in "Diaphanes," which reprise the same concept of losing visual capability.

"The Memories of an Instant," a photographic series that gives the exhibition its title, consists of fragments of places and situations, urban or natural landscapes, exploring the sense of memory, the color of memories, and how a single image can recall the past, much like the scent of Proust's madeleines. The same concept is addressed in "Memory Boxes," small portions of textures juxtaposed with the artist’s self-portraits, a personal memory to be preserved in anticipation of potential oblivion due to Alzheimer's.

In "Threads of Memory," the recovery of old doilies leads the artist to eternalize them by embedding them in cement casts exhibited next to a photo, the artist's self-portrait on which the doily rests like a tattoo. "Tempus fugit" is also a cement work revolving around the concept of memory, in an endless series of aligned doors, each opening to personal intimacies, contrasting the permanence of cement with the passage of time.

"Parmaea" is an environmental advocacy work addressing the privatization threat to the UNESCO-listed Palmaria island, and "Personal Constellations" is a socially-focused reportage on how our hyper-technological society marginalizes and exiles individuals affected by electromagnetic hypersensitivity.

The exhibition also features two artist books: the aforementioned photographic project "Personal Constellations" and the personal diary that collects the reflections that led the artist to develop the series "Diaphanes."

The exhibition runs until March 29, 2025. On March 2, during the presentation of the exhibition catalog, a performance by the artist will take place, followed by contributions from curator Erika Lacava.
Web: www.numm-art.com/it