VILLA LONTANA

PAINTING STONE is the fifth exhibition at Villa Lontana which references the Santarelli Collection as an archive and starting point for its curatorial thinking. In this exhibition our focus is on how stone has been used as a surface with which to create something new—another layer and therefore another surface. Among the greater focus on classical statuary, the Collection contains oil paintings on stone dated between the XVI and XVII century, many coloured marbles and architecture fragments from Imperial Rome and a selection of Paesina stones which have been the starting point around this exhibition.

The Paesina stone is the most singular example of ‘pictorial stone' in the limestone family because of the depictions it enables it is also called: landscape stone. Painters and engravers used it as a background in oil paintings, where the landscapes depicted on these stones by nature were completed by the artists’ additional imagery. The specificity of these works on stone bears a close relationship to non-linear ‘histories of painting’. The surface of the stone is used to stimulate relationships with its natural formation of geometric patterns and tonal nuances, some of which suggest a more ‘expressive’ gestural instigation.

Adelaide Cioni, Isabella Ducrot, David Kakabadze, Lucy McKenzie, Anne Minich, Francis Offman, Christopher Page, Delfina Scarpa, Mario Schifano, Jeffrey Stuker and Vivian Suter respond in different ways to unpack and enjoy the complexities, dynamics and visual excitement to be found in painted marble. “If you look upon an old wall covered with dirt, or the odd appearance of some streaked stones, you may discover several things like landscapes, battles, clouds, uncommon attitudes, humorous faces, draperies [...] Out of this confused mass of objects, the mind will be furnished with abundance of designs and subjects perfectly new.” (From “A New Method of Assisting the Invention in Drawing Original Compositions of Landscape” by Alexander Cozens, ca. 1785).
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Poster 70x100cm + Invitations

Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

Vitrine 1 and Pier Leone Ghezzi, reproduction images from the text ‘Studio di molte pietre’, 1726. Courtesy Biblioteca dell’Università Alessandrina di Roma

Pier Leone Ghezzi, reproduction images from the text Studio di molte pietre, 1726. Courtesy Biblioteca dell’Università Alessandrina di Roma

Vitrine 1. Patrick R. Crowley, 'The Phantom Image: Seeing the Dead in Ancient Rome’, 2019; Hubert Damisch, ‘A Theory of Cloud: Toward a History of Painting’, 2002; BOMB, Winter 2019-2020; Artforum, Summer 1982; Alexander Cozens, ‘A new method of assisting the invention in drawing original compositions of landscape’, 1785; Isabelle Graw, ‘Painting Beyond Itself: The Medium in the Post-Medium Condition’, 2016; Isabelle Graw, ‘Thinking Through Painting: Reflexivity and Agency Beyond the Canvas’, 2012; Stephan Micus, ‘The Music of Stones’, 1989, LP; Aphex Twin, ‘Selected Ambient Works Volume II’, 1994, LP; Walter Maioli, ‘Art of Primitive Sound’, 1991, CD; Amalia Del Ponte, ‘Lithovocis’, 1996, CD

Mario Schifano, ‘Paesaggio Anemico’, 1974/75. Enamel on canvas. Courtesy Collection of Giuseppe Garrera; Lucy McKenzie, ‘Shell Light (1)’, 2017. Shell, light, copper base, fabric covered cable. Courtesy the artist and Cabinet, London

Lucy McKenzie, 'Shell Light (1)’, 2017. Shell, light, copper base, fabric covered cable. Courtesy the artist and Cabinet, London

Vivian Suter, ‘Untitled’, 2020. Mixed media on canvas; ’Untitled’, 2020. Mixed media on canvas. Courtesy the artist and Gaga, Mexico City and Los Angeles; Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels; Karma International, Zurich; and Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala City

Christopher Page, ‘Cubiculum’, 2021. Acrylic on plastered panels. Courtesy the artist and Ben Hunter, London

Lucy McKenzie, 'Shell Light (2)’, 2017. Shell, light, copper base, fabric covered cable. Courtesy the artist and Cabinet, London

Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

Anne Minich, ‘Touch Touch’, 2014. Shells and found objects; ‘Blue Shell/Sky/Water’, 2008. Oil on wood, shell; Anne Minich, ‘Capped’, 2019. Oil on wood, stones, found metal. Courtesy the artist and Thomas Erben Gallery, New York

Francis Offman, ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020. Acrylic, ink, coffee grounds, Bolognese plaster on chestnuts paper. Courtesy the artist and P420, Bologna

Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

Jeffrey Stuker, ‘Dupes’, 2021. 6x6 CM Fuji Provia transparencies, sound. Courtesy the artist

Jeffrey Stuker, ‘Mimes’, 2020. C-Prints. Courtesy the artist

Adelaide Cioni, ‘Kew’, 2019. Super 8mm film, 3:06 min. Realised with the support of Home Movies. Courtesy the artist

Delfina Scarpa, ‘Untitled (Giardini d’Acqua)’, 2021; ‘Untitled (Indivia Romana - Invidia Romana)’, 2021; Adelaide Cioni, ‘Ab ovo. Grey and white checkers’, 2021; ‘Ab ovo. Green palm’, 2020

Adelaide Cioni, ‘Ab ovo. Grey and white checkers’, 2021. Wool stitched on wool, wood. Courtesy the artist; ‘Ab ovo. Green palm’, 2020. Wool stitched on canvas. Courtesy the artist and P420, Bologna

Delfina Scarpa, ‘Untitled (Giardini d’Acqua)’, 2021. Acrylic and oil on canvas. Courtesy the artist; ‘Untitled (Indivia Romana - Invidia Romana)’, 2021. Enamel, acrylic, solid marker on canvas. Courtesy the artist and Galleria Alessandra Bonomo

Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

David Kakabadze, Negatives from the film ‘Monuments Of Georgian Material Culture’, 1929-1931. Scanned film negatives mounted as a slide show of 21 slides. Courtesy David Kakabadze Foundation, Tbilisi

David Kakabadze, Sketches for the film ‘Monuments Of Georgian Material Culture’, 1929-1931. Reproduced as a fanzine for this exhibition. Courtesy David Kakabadze Foundation, Tbilisi

Central wall. ‘Assunzione della Vergine’ (Assumption of the Virgin), XVII century. Oil on Alabaster; ‘Crocifisso con la Maddalena’ (Crucifix with Mary Magdalene), XVII century. Oil on Cipollino marble from the Apuane mountains; ‘Cena in Emmaus’ (Supper at Emmaus), XVII century (?). Oil on marble; ‘L’Assunta’ (The Assumption), XVII century. Oil on Alabaster; ‘Natura morta e paesaggio con upupa’ (Still life and landscape with hoopoe), early XVII century. Oil on Alabaster; Flemish painter in Italy, ‘Riposo nella fuga da Egitto' (Rest on the flight from Egypt), early XVII century. Oil on Alabaster. Courtesy Dino ed Ernesta Santarelli Collection

Isabella Ducrot, ‘La Bella Terra', 2016. Pigments and collage on paper. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne

Central wall. ‘Susanna ed i Vecchioni’ (Susanna and the Elders), XVII century. Oil on Alabaster; ‘Gesù e la Samaritana' (Jesus and the Samaritan woman), XVII century. Oil on Alabaster; Flemish painter, ‘Maria Maddalena penitente’ (Penitent Mary Magdalene), XVII century. Oil on Agate; Giovanni Bilvert, ‘Tobia e l'angelo in un paesaggio’ (Tobias and the Angel in a Landscape), XVI century. Oil on Paesina stone. Courtesy Dino ed Ernesta Santarelli Collection

Isabella Ducrot, ‘Grande Abito’, 2021. Pigments and collage on Chinese paper. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne

Architecture fragments from Imperial Rome, Brown Breccia from the Apennine; Serpentine porphyry (retro). Courtesy Dino ed Ernesta Santarelli Collection; Francis Offman, ‘Untitled', 2019; ‘Untitled’, 2019. Acrylic, ink, paper, Bolognese plaster on jute. Courtesy the artist and P420, Bologna

Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

Vitrine 2. From left to right: Wadi Barud black and white granite (column); Paesina stone, Breccia “traccagnina” minute (slab); “Pavonazzo" porphyry (small broken slab); Written Greek (pebble); Breccia di Settebasi (square tile); Eastern “Lumachella” (rhomboid tile); Marine Cipollino marble (small fragment); Antique yellow “focato” (rhomboid tile); Breccia “Quintilina” (square plate); Giallo tigrato (plate fragment); Antique yellow (square tile); Greek green porphyry (ax slab) ; Selection of Paesina stones. Courtesy Dino ed Ernesta Santarelli Collection

Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

1-7. Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

8. Vitrine 1 and Pier Leone Ghezzi, reproduction images from the text ‘Studio di molte pietre’, 1726. Courtesy Biblioteca dell’Università Alessandrina di Roma

9. Pier Leone Ghezzi, reproduction images from the text Studio di molte pietre, 1726. Courtesy Biblioteca dell’Università Alessandrina di Roma

10. Vitrine 1. Patrick R. Crowley, 'The Phantom Image: Seeing the Dead in Ancient Rome’, 2019; Hubert Damisch, ‘A Theory of Cloud: Toward a History of Painting’, 2002; BOMB, Winter 2019-2020; Artforum, Summer 1982; Alexander Cozens, ‘A new method of assisting the invention in drawing original compositions of landscape’, 1785; Isabelle Graw, ‘Painting Beyond Itself: The Medium in the Post-Medium Condition’, 2016; Isabelle Graw, ‘Thinking Through Painting: Reflexivity and Agency Beyond the Canvas’, 2012; Stephan Micus, ‘The Music of Stones’, 1989, LP; Aphex Twin, ‘Selected Ambient Works Volume II’, 1994, LP; Walter Maioli, ‘Art of Primitive Sound’, 1991, CD; Amalia Del Ponte, ‘Lithovocis’, 1996, CD

11. Mario Schifano, ‘Paesaggio Anemico’, 1974/75. Enamel on canvas. Courtesy Collection of Giuseppe Garrera; Lucy McKenzie, ‘Shell Light (1)’, 2017. Shell, light, copper base, fabric covered cable. Courtesy the artist and Cabinet, London

12. Lucy McKenzie, 'Shell Light (1)’, 2017. Shell, light, copper base, fabric covered cable. Courtesy the artist and Cabinet, London

13. Vivian Suter, ‘Untitled’, 2020. Mixed media on canvas; ’Untitled’, 2020. Mixed media on canvas. Courtesy the artist and Gaga, Mexico City and Los Angeles; Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels; Karma International, Zurich; and Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala City

14. Christopher Page, ‘Cubiculum’, 2021. Acrylic on plastered panels. Courtesy the artist and Ben Hunter, London

15. Lucy McKenzie, 'Shell Light (2)’, 2017. Shell, light, copper base, fabric covered cable. Courtesy the artist and Cabinet, London

16. Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

17. Anne Minich, ‘Touch Touch’, 2014. Shells and found objects; ‘Blue Shell/Sky/Water’, 2008. Oil on wood, shell; Anne Minich, ‘Capped’, 2019. Oil on wood, stones, found metal. Courtesy the artist and Thomas Erben Gallery, New York

18. Francis Offman, ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020; ‘Untitled’, 2020. Acrylic, ink, coffee grounds, Bolognese plaster on chestnuts paper. Courtesy the artist and P420, Bologna

19. Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

20. Jeffrey Stuker, ‘Dupes’, 2021. 6x6 CM Fuji Provia transparencies, sound. Courtesy the artist

21. Jeffrey Stuker, ‘Mimes’, 2020. C-Prints. Courtesy the artist

22. Adelaide Cioni, ‘Kew’, 2019. Super 8mm film, 3:06 min. Realised with the support of Home Movies. Courtesy the artist

23. Adelaide Cioni, ‘Ab ovo. Green palm’, 2020. Wool stitched on canvas. Courtesy the artist and P420, Bologna

24. Adelaide Cioni, ‘Ab ovo. Grey and white checkers’, 2021. Wool stitched on wool, wood. Courtesy the artist; ‘Ab ovo. Green palm’, 2020. Wool stitched on canvas. Courtesy the artist and P420, Bologna

25. Delfina Scarpa, ‘Untitled (Giardini d’Acqua)’, 2021; ‘Untitled (Indivia Romana - Invidia Romana)’, 2021; Adelaide Cioni, ‘Ab ovo. Grey and white checkers’, 2021; ‘Ab ovo. Green palm’, 2020

26. Adelaide Cioni, ‘Ab ovo. Grey and white checkers’, 2021. Wool stitched on wool, wood. Courtesy the artist; ‘Ab ovo. Green palm’, 2020. Wool stitched on canvas. Courtesy the artist and P420, Bologna

27. Delfina Scarpa, ‘Untitled (Giardini d’Acqua)’, 2021. Acrylic and oil on canvas. Courtesy the artist; ‘Untitled (Indivia Romana - Invidia Romana)’, 2021. Enamel, acrylic, solid marker on canvas. Courtesy the artist and Galleria Alessandra Bonomo

28. Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

29. David Kakabadze, Negatives from the film ‘Monuments Of Georgian Material Culture’, 1929-1931. Scanned film negatives mounted as a slide show of 21 slides. Courtesy David Kakabadze Foundation, Tbilisi

30. David Kakabadze, Negatives from the film ‘Monuments Of Georgian Material Culture’, 1929-1931. Scanned film negatives mounted as a slide show of 21 slides. Courtesy David Kakabadze Foundation, Tbilisi

30a. David Kakabadze, Sketches for the film ‘Monuments Of Georgian Material Culture’, 1929-1931. Reproduced as a fanzine for this exhibition. Courtesy David Kakabadze Foundation, Tbilisi

31. Central wall. ‘Assunzione della Vergine’ (Assumption of the Virgin), XVII century. Oil on Alabaster; ‘Crocifisso con la Maddalena’ (Crucifix with Mary Magdalene), XVII century. Oil on Cipollino marble from the Apuane mountains; ‘Cena in Emmaus’ (Supper at Emmaus), XVII century (?). Oil on marble; ‘L’Assunta’ (The Assumption), XVII century. Oil on Alabaster; ‘Natura morta e paesaggio con upupa’ (Still life and landscape with hoopoe), early XVII century. Oil on Alabaster; Flemish painter in Italy, ‘Riposo nella fuga da Egitto' (Rest on the flight from Egypt), early XVII century. Oil on Alabaster. Courtesy Dino ed Ernesta Santarelli Collection

32. Isabella Ducrot, ‘La Bella Terra', 2016. Pigments and collage on paper. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne

33. Central wall. ‘Susanna ed i Vecchioni’ (Susanna and the Elders), XVII century. Oil on Alabaster; ‘Gesù e la Samaritana' (Jesus and the Samaritan woman), XVII century. Oil on Alabaster; Flemish painter, ‘Maria Maddalena penitente’ (Penitent Mary Magdalene), XVII century. Oil on Agate; Giovanni Bilvert, ‘Tobia e l'angelo in un paesaggio’ (Tobias and the Angel in a Landscape), XVI century. Oil on Paesina stone. Courtesy Dino ed Ernesta Santarelli Collection

34. Isabella Ducrot, ‘Grande Abito’, 2021. Pigments and collage on Chinese paper. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne

35. Architecture fragments from Imperial Rome, Brown Breccia from the Apennine; Serpentine porphyry (retro). Courtesy Dino ed Ernesta Santarelli Collection; Francis Offman, ‘Untitled', 2019; ‘Untitled’, 2019. Acrylic, ink, paper, Bolognese plaster on jute. Courtesy the artist and P420, Bologna

36. Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

37. Vitrine 2. From left to right: Wadi Barud black and white granite (column); Paesina stone, Breccia “traccagnina” minute (slab); “Pavonazzo" porphyry (small broken slab); Written Greek (pebble); Breccia di Settebasi (square tile); Eastern “Lumachella” (rhomboid tile); Marine Cipollino marble (small fragment); Antique yellow “focato” (rhomboid tile); Breccia “Quintilina” (square plate); Giallo tigrato (plate fragment); Antique yellow (square tile); Greek green porphyry (ax slab) ; Selection of Paesina stones. Courtesy Dino ed Ernesta Santarelli Collection

38-39. Installation view, PAINTING STONE, Villa Lontana, 24 May – 24 July 2021

Poster + Invitations
70x100cm + A5, offset