ARTAN SHALSI   close up		Catalog
Un orizzonte
curated by Elena Forin
20 october – 28 december 2012

In partnership with la Galleria d’arte Niccoli and as part of the close up project dedicated to young artists, Artan (Shalsi) has designed a work that takes up the whole back wall of Il Ponte gallery’s lounge space, which he made it for especially, reinterpreting its structure, nature, and relationship with the light and the spectator.

“Un orizzonte (a horizon),” according to the curator, “is the most complete example of the directions within the artist’s studies and the power of his ouevre, in terms of its impact on the environment and on the perception. This project combines all the crucial elements in Artan’s work. The possibility of a gaze that extends to the limits of vision, the space completely rewritten by the work, the presence of a balance at times – like in this case – stable, at others totally fragile and precarious, together with a particular type of vision and specific analysis of the materials.”
For the artist, the piece, a true environmental installation, is the expression of a clear intent: “this work,” says Artan, “does not represent the horizon in itself… it is a horizon, just one of an infinity of possible horizons. I don’t want to symbolise the horizon, but to close a horizon in a room.” Made from a particular plastic material, the surface of this work has been sullied by scratches and is open to collecting marks and traces, which are also an important indication of the piece’s openness to time. Indeed, from this viewpoint the two large curves that meet on the wall of the room offer the possibility of an unexpected close-up: in the presence of this work, the spectator will be faced with a literally tangible horizon, whose majesty, monumental value and image give the sense of a dimension of space and time that is mysterious, evocative, surprising and elusive.