| Biography | Gallery | Art projects | Reviews | Video technique |
| |
|
| REVIEWS |
| September 2010 | ‘A-Tratti’ exhibition catalogue. ‘The Social Function of Art’, by Siliano Simoncini, art critic. |
| Through her artistic works, Gloria Campriani moves from
the surface to the space, and back again; from the work as a piece of furnishing
to a work as precious object for a collector; from an art installation,
to the installation as a result of a performance. Gloria’s work is
always changing and developing due to the fact that her research and her
experimentation lead her to discover new aesthetic solutions, and to explore
the difficult path of the social function of art, because, in her view,
the meaning of the work of art must not be elitist, but, on the contrary,
it must allow people to interpret its meaning without too many difficulties. Art, according to Gloria, is without class or ethnic distinctions for anyone, and this is why her objects/totems are often created through a performance in which the public takes part, as in a game. In this sense, this artist embraces a global idea of communication, and takes part in the international diffusion of that artistic movement that seeks to be reconciled with the collective imagination of the community. For it is evident to everyone that the capitalist system, as well as the system of real socialism, have made art lose that main role it had in the past (today this role, unfortunately, is played by the economy), and they have standardized all the different languages of art: the former system in a stylish way, and the latter system in a celebratory and didactic way. But art is so resourceful that it allows artists not to conform. A clear example may be the recent avant-garde group (set up in the 1990s) called ArteRelazionale, which came from the ideas of the French critic Nicolas Bourriaud, included in the 1998 volume ‘Relational Art’. The main aim of this movement is to search for maximum interactivity with the public, in order to induce them to socialize and, consequently, to become more willing to enter into new relationships. Thus, as one can deduce from this, we can talk about an art that favours the relationship between people, and so which can help them to achieve a common end, through a mutual exchange of views. The work ‘Network, The Net in the Web’ which Gloria presents on this occasion, can be included in the aforementioned artistic movement. It can be part of it not only thanks to its foundations in poetry (or philosophy, even), but also, in particular, thanks to her creative skills, to her great aesthetic sense, and to her ability to do her best in order to express her artistic sensibility. All this makes Gloria Campriani a unique character who has not only found herself through art, but who also, through her works of art, puts people in contact and bonds them together. How does she do this? She makes them participate in the “art game”. In this sense, art is a rite reuniting people with the value of the soul, and with the ancestral nature of human beings. In our contemporary world artists, poets, and men of letters strive to achieve this end, and Gloria together with them. Siliano Simoncini, art historian and critic. |
| April 2010 | “Flourishing Intellect” is the title of the first contemporary art exhibition took place at Danilo Dolci Primary School in Cenaia (in the Province of Pisa) Edizioni Matithyah, Grazia Batini, ed. Moira Brunori. |
| The consolatory art of weaving is ancient, and equally ancient are the raw materials used for creating it. The thread unwinds itself, and traces journeys of entire lives, describing feelings, and appearing and disappearing. A vibrating bundle of primordial DNA, this thread is the artist’s primary and essential instrument, a familiar material, with endless expressive potential … |
| January 2010 | Piaggio Museum, Pontedera (PI) Observations of the second year class of the S.M. High School in Crespina (PI) on the didactic performance, “Network”, conducted by Gloria Campriani. |
| Experiencing “Network” we have expressed
our own sensations, after being carried away by our imagination and the
music. For some, the installation represented only material things but for most of us it created new emotions. Our emotions and considerations were:
Another opinion was:
Last but not least came the opinion that the multi-coloured threads were the symbol of the meeting and the interaction, sometimes difficult, of different cultures and peoples. |
| December 2009 | Catalogue of the exhibition “Shhh… Rumori d’Artista” Gloria Campriani. Reviewed by Ilario Luperini, Art Critic and Historian. |
| Gloria Campriani’s artistic theme would seem to
be the complexity in existence. The textile’s fibre is the heart,
the engine of her multi-form research. The boundless world of textiles,
originating with very complex interlacements that are based, on the one
hand on particular creativity and imagination and on the other hand on
a continual production control (just think of the long and often difficult
journey that goes from the initial design to the finished product). It
appears to be a sort of metaphor of the complexity of human existence in
which intuition and rationality, reason and emotions are intertwined to
create an unending flow which is the backbone of her works of art. Thanks
to her refined artistic techniques and creative instinct, Gloria Campriani
tries to penetrate this complexity: dismantling it, extracting some fragments
and finally creating new charming and sometimes disturbing forms coming
from her volitive construction. The textiles fibre, which originally was
the unique supporting structure for her works of art, now becomes a mass
of fibre, often put next to, mingled and melted with material coming from
the natural environment, as if the artist’s aim was to show the inner
and profound characteristics of herself, her entire thoughts and strong
beliefs: a conceptual creation that goes from the natural to the artefact,
from nature’s observation of its hidden or visible pulsing heart
to an urgent ecological alarm. The use of acrylic colours that flow over the fibres, often melted with stucco, permits the artist to develop emotionally complex themes: the chromatic range goes from bright colours (Luce Travolgente) to faded nuances (Insenature). The compositions are very complex: from fixed geometrical designs (Il Cane and Confronti) to highly imaginative and disturbing creations (Energia). Above all, the striking element is the dynamism; there is no pause, the sparkling imagination matches perfectly with the rapidity of the hand and the speedy production. The surfaces go from simple interlacements on which the tactile sensation of the material dominates, to the intense and vibrant bas-reliefs, true sculptures made from fibres. Tormented and throbbing surfaces that are witnesses to an interior world in which doubts exceed certainty, the eagerness to research is more intense than the satisfaction coming from discovery, as happens for any true artist for whom art cannot be other than a cognitive act. A contribution to unveil the profound unity in human existence. |
| October 16th 2009 | Era 2000online - Mensile di Cultura e spettacolo |
 |
Gloria Campriani. Un filo per matita di Sara Paradisi Al posto di colori e pennelli o di uno scalpello per scolpire l’artista Gloria Campriani scegli la fibra di lana e l’antica arte della tessitura per raccontare il difficile intreccio del rapporto dell’uomo con la società e con i suoi simili. Si è soliti considerare l’espressione artistica contemporanea come un genere completamnete avulso da quelle che sono le nostre tradizioni culturali. [Leggi tutto l'articolo in PDF] www.era2000online.net |
| 20 march 2009 | Il Tirreno, Empoli |
 |
IN CERTALDO Conference on the Metropolis at “I Macelli” The art of Gloria Campriani and the reflections of Laura Grazi CERTALDO. After the first two meetings on the city-image and on the urban outskirts, the series of debates entitled “Certaldo-Dubai and return” is now dedicated to “Megacities”, in short the metropolis. This is the subject of the forthcoming debate which will take place today at 9,30pm at “I Macelli”. Entrance free. Since 2006, the population who live in the cities has overtaken the number of people living in the countryside and in villages. But what is really bewildering is the fact that the most populated cities in the world are situated in Asia and in South America, where one can find also the highest percentage of misery and poverty. If in the 20th century London, Paris and New York were the symbols of the trends in Western society, what are these new metropolis telling us about world trends? Artists and university readers will try to answer this question. The artistic interpretation of the subject of the “Metropolis” will be presented by Gloria Campriani, via her works of art which express themselves through silent buildings, and lonely cities with perfect proportions, as happens in the work entitled “New York, New York”. And the historical and political interpretation will be made by Laura Grazi, a reader in history of European Integration in the Dept. of Political Science in the University of Siena, and the author of the book entitled “Europe and its Cities. Urban problems during the process of European integration (1957-1999)” [L’Europa e le città, Il Mulino, 2006]. Foreseen are also: speeches by anthropologists and architects, and the reading of extracts from “The Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino and “The Legend of 1900” (Novecento) by Alessandro Baricco. |
| 18 march 2009 | La Nazione, Empoli |
 |
EVENT: DAY AFTER TOMORROW IN CERTALDO The new metropolis described using art AFTER the first two meetings on the city-image and the urban outskirts, the series of debates and conferences entitled “Certaldo-Dubai and return” (in the photo) is now dedicated to “Megacities”, in short the metropolis. This subject will be again discussed in a multidisciplinary way in the conference which will take place the day after tomorrow at 9.30pm in “I Macelli”. Entrance free. Since 2006, the population who live in the cities has overtaken the number of people living in the countryside and in villages. This has led to an urban world no longer linked to a rural and farming life, and this has created a world of city dwellers. But what is really bewildering is the fact that the most populated cities in the world are situated in Asia and in South America, where one can find also the highest percentage of misery and poverty, despite the efforts of a number of lay and religious associations who have devoted themselves to freeing these poor from hunger. If in the previous century London, Paris and New York were the symbols of the trends in Western society, what do these new metropolis tell us about contemporary trends? Different answers to this question will be given by the various presentations made by artists and university readers. This question mark underlines how our world is changing and how different urban realities has changed. These very same urban realities are no longer referable to those taken for granted in the past. The artistic interpretation of the subject of the “Metropolis” will be presented by Gloria Campriani, via her works of art which express themselves through silent buildings, lonely cities with perfect proportions, towers closed in a noisy silence, as happens in the work entitled “New York, New York”. The interpretation of a mental loneliness characteristic of our contemporary times where closure and anguish are the real protagonists. This social texture is built with threads and their interlacements which only with difficulty can be disconnected. Gloria Campriani creates works aimed at understanding, and promoting the diffusion of contemporary art taking into consideration all the new areas where art is positioning itself. A true expressive gem for this talented artist. The historical and political interpretation will be by Laura Grazi, a reader in history of European Integration in the Dept. of Political Science in the University of Siena, and the author of the book entitled “Europe and its Cities” (L’Europa e le città). Thus an important historical source which is based on the urban problems during the process of European integration (1957-1999). Foreseen are also: speeches by anthropologists and architects, and the reading of extracts from “The Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino and “The Legend of 1900” (Novecento) by Alessandro Baricco. |
| 7 march 2009 | La Nazione, Firenze |
 |
THE VIA SANTO SPIRITO ASSOCIATION The Oltrarno looks resplendent thanks to Rive Gauche VIA SANTO SPIRITO has always been the ideal location for exhibitions and cultural events. For this reason, to promote and safeguard the heritage and the local identity of a street that, amongst art and crafts workshops, is the pulsing heart of the Oltrarno, two years ago “Via Santo Spirito Rive Gauche” was born. “This non-profit making association – explained the president Francesca Bruscoli – has not only organized two important events, in June and in January, but has also supported many other smaller events taking place on this street.” The latest event in time has seen the antiquarian and scholar Alberto Boralevi open his showroom to the Tuscan artist Gloria Campriani. This exhibition, entitled “Portraying with a thread, from ancient carpets to contemporary art” (until March 20th at Palazzo Frescobaldi) creates an inevitable union between contemporary and ancient art. Alberto Boralevi travelled the world over for ten years in order to find fourteen ancient and rare Persian Kilim Carpets, and we now discover with surprise that the same symbols of the Persian hand-made carpets are also present in the three-dimensional works of art created by the Tuscan artist. “As if – explained Gloria – the origin of certain symbols which appear both in the carpets and in my works were ancestral”. Info.: aborale@tin.it; 335 5427107. Caterina Ceccuti. |
| December 17th, 2008 | Corriere di Siena |
| Casole d’Elsa. A successful exhibition at the Palazzo
Comunale “ The Art That Hangs on a Thread” Gloria Campriani’s exhibition is open until tomorrow These are the last few days in which one can visit Gloria Campriani’s exhibition, entitled “The Art That Hangs on a Thread”, which lasts until Tuesday 18th December in the atrium of the Palazzo Comunale in Casole d’Elsa. The exhibition, which has already proved to be a great success, is inserted in the 11th edition of the event entitled “Mostre a Palazzo”. It has been supported by the Municipality of Casole d’Elsa, together with Griselda Cultural Association and has the patronage of the Province of Siena. The interpretation of a network of social relationships, a social texture which is constructed by threads and by their interlaced links. This is the subject of Gloria Campriani’s work who, in order to explain clearly its meaning, has also created a film entitled “Even…a Swallow’s Nest is Made of Fibres and Mixed With Clay”, in which visitors can see the various techniques which are involved in this particular artistic language. The installation “Point of Equilibrium”, which has been located outside the atrium, initiates the exhibition itself and puts an emphasis on the necessity of an equilibrium with nature. “Housing the works of art of this artist – underlines Valentina Feti, Mayor of Casole d’Elsa – is as if we imprinted on these walls a tradition which has already been a characteristic of the area where this same tradition is deeply rooted; the new way of interpreting an artistic language, as is the art of weaving, is evident in her works of art which can be inserted between the promotion of tradition and the wish of projecting into the future this ancient knowledge via ‘new interlacements’. The event “Mostre a Palazzo” – continues the Mayor – still represents, after many years, one of the most important events in the cultural life of this Commune. And thanks to the works of art of the artists which are housed here, the rooms of this palazzo are lively and ever changing, as lively and dynamic is our community, which with respect and curiosity peeks, contemplates, comments and gives its opinion. Art cannot be only for a limited bunch of people, and this choice, made many years ago, to continue the promotion of art in this very location is representative of this ideal.” “Small municipalities play a fundamental role in the economic promotion of contemporary art – underlines Luciana Lazzeretti, director of the Course of Specialization in Economy and Administration of Museum Property and Culture at the University of Florence – and the very same works of art by Gloria Campriani take on a new and different significance depending on where they are displayed. The dialectics between art and territory finds its true expression in these ‘minor’ art locations, which maybe are more capable of creating a synthesis between artistic heritage and art currents”. “But the work of the artist – adds Luciana Lazzeretti – has also the other important function of creating a link between the know-how of different areas, and of the artists who in those areas lived and worked, between artisan and manufacturing culture and the artistic heritage. Gloria Campriani’s own background, the daughter of textile entrepreneurs and she herself an artist and artisan, reveals the link between the artist, the material, and the territory which finds its most dynamic expression in the use of the Fibre Art techniques”. |
| October 4th, 2008 | Newspaper “Il Tirreno”, Pisa |
| The exhibition “The Art That Hangs on a Thread” opens at the Cittadella Pisa. Today October 4th, the personal exhibition of Gloria Campriani is inaugurated at 5 p.m. at the Centre for Textile Restoration (La Cittadella). This exhibition lasts until October 18th, and has been organized in two different seats: the aforementioned Centre for Textile Restoration and Palazzo Gambacorti, following an ideal “thread” that from the Cittadella crosses the river and reaches the town centre, interlacing art from the past to the present day. The artist Gloria Campriani, has chosen a particular raw material, Textile Fibres, discovering an innovative language which is capable of answering the new requests from the public. At the opening the Art Councillor of the Municipality of Pisa, Silvia Panichi, and the Director of the Centre for Textile Restoration, Moira Brunori, will be present, and the exhibition has an original sound track composed by Emanuele Nistri. Opening times of the Centre for Textile Restoration are from Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., closed on Saturday and Sunday. While Palazzo Gambacorti is open from Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. |
| October 4th, 2008 | Newspaper, “La Nazione”, Pisa |
| “The Art That Hangs on a Thread” calls at the Cittadella (fortress) ”THE ART That Hangs on a Thread” is the title of Gloria Campriani’s exhibition which opens today at 5 p.m. at the Centre For Textile Restoration at the Cittadella (until October 18th the opening times are from Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.). Other works of art by Gloria, part of the same exhibition, can be found in the atrium of Palazzo Gambacorti (from Monday to Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.). These two seats create an ideal itinerary that from the Arno river goes to the city centre. |
| Settember 19, 2008 | La Nazione, Pisa |
 |
The Exhibition Textiles and Interlacements by Gloria Campriani When the Art Hangs on a Thread A social background which is made up of interlaced threads and links, the interpretation of the weaving of social relationships. This is the subject that Gloria Campriani (in the photo) deals with in her personal exhibition, entitled “The Art That Hangs on a Thread”, in Pisa from October 4th to 18th. Two exhibition seats. The first is the atrium of Palazzo Gambacorti, the other is the centre for Textile Restoration at the Cittadella, on Lungarno Simonelli. “ A very important exhibition - affirms Laura De Cesare, Reader in the University of Florence and Director of the Workshop for Textile Projects - because it underlines and relaunches an extraordinarily significant feature of textiles, as is the art of weaving and together with the projects, restoration and dyeing are the completion of a journey that make Pisa a centre of enormous prestige”. “The opportunity of housing Gloria Campriani’s works of art , underlines Moira Brunori, Director of the Centre for Textile Restoration at the Cittadella, could not have been a better opportunity for us. Contemporary art and the art of restoration, are only apparently distant. They have a lot in common, besides the link of the traditional feminine feature of both”. “The mystery of threads - concludes Gloria Campriani - which is an incomparable metaphor of human evolution, endures in the strength of interlaced signs, in the vital breath of the raw material, finding at last, in my work, their accomplishment.” “The title of this exhibition, explains the Art Councillor, Silvia Panichi, suggests that, through humble materials, one can hand down part of one’s life.” The opening times to visit the exhibition at the Centre for Textile Restoration are from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 13 p.m., and from 15:30 p.m. to 18 p.m.. And at Palazzo Gambacorti, they are from Monday to Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 19:30 p.m.. The entrance is free. It is possible to book visits outside the opening times by calling 3938941189 or 347 6419142. For more information please contact 050 910206, www.restaurotessile.com Editor Francesco Carrassi |
| Settember 19, 2008 | Il Tirreno, Pisa |
 |
Events Two Exhibitions by Gloria Campriani at the Cittadella and at Palazzo Gambacorti When the Art Hangs on a Thread Pisa – A social background made up of interlaced threads and links and human relationships similar to the network of a woven cloth. This is the subject dealt with by Gloria Campriani in her personal exhibition, entitled ‘The Art That Hangs on a Thread’ which will open on October 4th and lasts until October 18th. Two exhibition seats: The Centre for Textile Restoration of the Cittadella, on Lungarno Simonelli, and the atrium of Palazzo Gambacorti. This is an exhibition on textile art whose title “suggests that, through humble materials, one can hand down part of one’s life”, the City Councillor for Art, Silvia Panichi, comments. The same Gloria Campriani explains the true meaning of the exhibition: “The mystery of the threads is a metaphor of human life”. The exhibition will be open at the Centre for Textile Restoration from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 13 p.m.; and from 15:30 p.m. to 18 p.m.. And at Palazzo Gambacorti it will be open from Monday to Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 19:30 p.m. The entrance is free and for more information one can contact the Culture Department of the Municipality (tel. 050910206) or visit the following website: www.restaurotessile.com Editor Bruno Manfelotto. |
| An invitation: October 4th 2008 | Author’s Thread, Gloria Campriani by Moira Brunori |
  |
Author’s Thread, Gloria Campriani by Moira Brunori
(translated by Lola Teale) The consolatory art of weaving is ancient, and equally ancient are the raw materials used for creating it. The thread unwinds itself, and traces journeys of entire lives, describing feelings, and appearing and disappearing. A vibrating bundle of primordial DNA, this thread is the artist’s primary and essential instrument, a familiar material, with endless expressive potential.(Moira Brunori, Centre for Textile Restoration, in Pisa) |
| An invitation: October 4th 2008 | The art that hangs by a thread. By Silvia Panichi |
| The art that hangs by a thread, Gloria Campriani. By Silvia
Panichi (translated by Lola Teale) The Municipality of Pisa is pleased to welcome Gloria Campriani’s art exhibition, entitled The art that hangs by a thread, which will be housed both in the atrium of Palazzo Gambacorti and at the Textile Centre of the Cittadella (fortress). Gloria Campriani, a Certaldo-born artist, who grew artistically and professionally in the world of fashion, has for several years chosen a particular way of making art, by mingling woollen yarns with other different materials. She creates special pictorial and sculptural effects, with her interlacement of different fibres, which are modelled with great technical skill to pursue a particular expressive aim, and composes shapes which are both clear and evocative. The evocative title of the exhibition suggests to us that, through humble materials, one can hand down part of one’s life and, on the other hand, that artistic expression is short-lived if it is not fully understood and supported. But it also suggests that weaving - as the Greek myth of Philomena and Procne tells us – has, since Antiquity, always been a precious means of visual communication. (Silvia Panichi, Art Councillor of the Municipality of Pisa) |
| Catalogue September 4th 2008 | "Corners of Art, Gloria Campriani" by Siliano Simoncini |
| Gloria Campriani is an unusual artist and her works of art are very feminine. The genre, which she has chosen to create in her “pictorial” works, is influenced by neo-Expressionism. Why is “pictorial” evidenced in inverted commas? Because the painting is there but yarns of wool, cotton and other vegetable fibres, usually tree branches, take a centre page. The result is a material “world”, dramatic and virulent, which Gloria Campriani puts together in order to get people involved as far as possible, in order to embrace them and to give them a feeling of anxiety and discomfort. These works of art, usually of a primitive matrix, and a geological imprint of forgotten eras, are her prerogative but, especially for the Exhibition at Villa Peyron, the artist has chosen to interact with the natural environment, and to display the milk of a feminine touch: gentleness, elegance, sensibility are the aesthetic parameters of her installation, and characterize her works thanks to the dual meaning which comes from the title of the installation FiliForme (Thread-Shapes), in actual fact the Italian word filiforme is made up of two different words: fili (threads) and forme (shapes). This aspect needs a further explanation: the installation is situated in that part of the gardens which divides the Italian-style garden, from the English-style one which leads to the large pond. Here two small Tuscan-style columns exist which have been used as stage scenery for a small sculpture. Now, what has Gloria Campriani done? She has coated them with flounces of coloured woollen yarn, mostly red and white, and a little blue on the left column, blue and white, and a little of red on the right one. The result? The rigid structure has become lighter to the eye and, the dual meaning of the title has been explained: the woollen yarn originates the shape of the column. A banal solution? On the contrary, an intelligent solution! Everyone approaching the installation is captivated by the material effect of the yarn, in actual fact its softness recalls that same tactile sensation which has been longed-for by the Futurists, in this way the hand caresses the surface almost leaving an imprint, and whoever does this – try it to believe it – has the idea of touching a living sculpture. The characteristic coolness of the material with which columns are usually made, becomes, using a metaphor, a “human” element. From the aesthetic point of view, the flounces with colour and size alternation, create a dynamic development, on the one hand both for the prominence of red to the left- warm colour giving the perception of nearness – and the prominence of blue to the right – cool colour giving the perception of being far away – and on the other hand the same differing alternation of the flounces give the impression of a rising movement which creates a sort of rhythm, almost musical, one could say. The borderline which Gloria Campriani has re-created in this way is a passage from the rationality of an Italian-style garden to the irrational English-style garden, and she has brought to life a happy interlude. (Siliano Simoncini, art critic) |
| August 27th 2008 | Tales of Science and Mystery, by Sandra Landi |
| In order to complete this book, three works of art by Gloria Campriani have been used to divide each part of the volume, entitled “Tales of Science and Mystery”, edited by Sandra Landi, a writer and President of the Cultural Association “Griselda Scrittura”, and published by Morgana Publishing House. |
| 25/06/08 | From the “Il Tirreno”, Pistoia newspaper |
 |
Conference In the Sala Maggiore speeches on Art and Architecture. Pistoia. Today at 6 p.m. in the Sala Maggiore of the Palazzo Comunale a conference will take place. During this conference, entitled “Art and Architecture”, Alessandro Andreini, Claudio Rosati and Siliano Simoncini will be making speeches, and the volume “Radici(Roots)” published by the Settegiorni Publishing House will be presented. Roots grow below ground and collect water and nourishment for the plant. For the artists Campriani, Dami, Girolami and Hjort this is the subject of their works of art which are exhibited at the “Giovanni Michelucci” Document Centre, as they are convinced that “it is necessary to take nourishment from memories and history” and at the same time to focus people’s attention on environmental problems, which affect all of us and on which we are dependent. Michelucci’s vision took in the trees, their branches and their apparent tangled web. In other words columns and geometrical structures become bearing walls for house and church roofs, as the designs displayed at the Document Centre reveal. This architect does not forget the natural environment in his plans, thus Man and Nature are united in a unique destiny. These four artists have not only exhibited their works of art but they have also organized a meeting in the Sala Maggiore of the Palazzo Comunale in Pistoia, which takes place today at 6 p.m.. This meeting with the architect Alessandro Andreini, the Reader Siliano Simoncini and the journalist and historian Claudio Rosati has as subject matter “Art and Architecture”, considering contemporary art together with the philosophy of Michelucci, his dreams, his utopias, and eventually the relationship between the works of art and their preservation in the museums of the cities or of the regions, beginning with today’s experience filtered by the history of the subjects to be discussed, as Andrea Dami says, quoting Walter Benjamin: “The revolution is the pounce of a tiger into the past, not his escape forward”. Today the book “Radici(Roots), Artists for Michelucci” will be also presented, published in three languages and edited and published by the Settegiorni Publishing House from Pistoia. Today the book “Radici(Roots), Artists for Michelucci” will be also presented, published in three languages and edited and published by the Settegiorni Publishing House from Pistoia. Lorenzo Maffucci |
| 25/06/2008 | From the “La Nazione”, Pistoia newspaper |
| Art and Architecture in the Shadow of Michelucci A new appointment with ‘RootsRadiciRacines – Artists for Michelucci’, a project for an exhibition which is based on the opinion that green areas are necessary within cities, in accordance with the philosophy of this famous architect from Pistoia (1891 – 1990). Together with the exhibition of the works of art by Gloria Campriani, Andrea Dami (in the photo), Astrid Hjort and Mario Girolami which have been displayed in the exhibition halls of the “Giovanni Michelucci” Document Centre in the Palazzo del Comune, today (6 p.m.) in the Sala Maggiore a conference, entitled “Art and Architecture” will take place with speeches by Alessandro Andreini, Claudio Rosati and Siliano Simoncini. After this, the book and catalogue - dedicated to the exhibition and conference, and published by Settegiorni, a Publishing House from Pistoia (pp.64, s.i.p.) – will be presented. This project has been sponsored by: Municipality of Pistoia, the Foundations “Conservatorio S. Giovanni Battista” and “Luigi Tronci”, and the Associations “Pistoia a Club For Europe” and “Amici di Groppoli”. Paolo Gestri |
| June 14, 2008 | “La Nazione” newspaper in the “Agenda di Pistoia” |
| Architecture on a Human Scale “ Roots”, an Exhibition Dedicated to Michelucci, Opens its Doors Pistoia. In the name of Michelucci. Two artists from Pistoia, Andrea Dami and Mario Girolami, an artist from Certaldo (Florence), Gloria Campriani, and the Swedish, Astrid Hjort, will present a number of their works of art in the Palazzo Comunale, amid many designs by the famous architect Giovanni Michelucci, at the exhibition hall of the “Document Centre”. The exhibition, entitled “Roots” opens on June 14 at 6 p.m. and is open to the public, entrance free, on Tuesday. Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. and Sunday and feast days from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The works of art of the famous architect from Pistoia become inspiration for new plans for cities, districts and squares, respecting the natural environment On June 14 at 6 p.m., in the Sala Maggiore of the Palazzo Comunale, a conference, “Art and Architecture” with speeches by Alessandro Andreini, Claudio Rosati and Siliano Simoncini will take place. On this occasion a book will be presented, this book with the same title as the exhibition “Roots” has been published by Settegiorni Pistoia, and includes also brief texts by Siliano Simoncini and by Roberto Agnoletti, as an introduction and general comment, a synthesis of the works of art of the four protagonists of the exhibition. A volume in three different languages: Italian, French and English. Returning to the exhibition, Andrea Dami presents three works of art based on the city, the district and the square; Mario Girolami presents only one work entitled “A Home for Man (founded on two roots) [Casa per l’Uomo]”, Gloria Campriani displays two works of art, one of which represents an enwrapped tree, ambiguously protected or imprisoned in wool twine, and Astrid Hjort a series of water colours with the theme nature and woodland. “As the projects by Michelucci are deeply rooted in the soil – explains Simoncini – in nature and in Tuscany, the works of art of these artists link to this message, but only as a possibility to discuss ecology and man’s carelessness towards history written by nature”. OttobrEuropa, a group which for many years has kept Pistoia in contact with other cities in Europe, participates in this initiative. “We take part – explains the president Andrea Ottanelli – because Michelucci has always been strongly linked to Pistoia, also because he is an artist well-known all over Europe and because this exhibition will also take place in France, England and Sweden”. Paolo Gestri . |
| June 14, 2008 | from the “Tirreno” newspaper - Pistoia |
Exhibition and Convention |
| June 2008 | “Roots” Catalogue for the exhibition |
“Roots” From the architecture of Giovanni Michelucci to the work of artists: Gloria Campriani. The work displays a rudimental interlace of threads where natural branches emerge from the warp. Visible archetypes, like masks in the forest world. One suspects events prefiguring the chaos in the origin, a primitive germination. Does the work suggest the rebirth of earth after having been destroyed by man? Or does it show what remains after the scorn? Or is it a raw laceration of nature still alive? Gloria Campriani leaves the question open. When observing the work one is impressed by its violent expression, the cruel visual message that produces a sense of distress. A new sort of expressionism specified by its authentic language and getting its strength from the artist’s determination. Siliano Simoncini, art critic. |
| June 5th 2008 | La Nazione Agenda di Firenze |
Painting Exhibition (p. 31) In the salon of good taste “threads woven by pencils!” “IN A SOCIETY made up by threads, the thread perfectly interprets the weaving of social relationships. Linked, wrapped, intertwined and knotted threads weave and destroy today’s social structure. And fibre becomes the instrument for linguistic expression”. This is the leitmotiv behind “A thread for pencil”, cultural journey of artist Gloria Campriani (in the photo) which resulted in the mini-exhibition held at the “Cioccolateria” in Vicolo Soldanieri, the same where the association “Il Chiasso Ritrovato” chaired by Maria Teresa Bruno holds interesting cultural ventures, with free entry and opened to the whole city. The vernissage will be held today at 18.30 in Chiasso de’ Soldanieri, 7/r (a small evocative side street of Via Portarossa that, thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Bruno, is slowly becoming a true salon devoted to good taste, culture and contemporary art). The exhibition will be opened daily from 16.30 to 20.00 until next Thursday. Caterina Ceccuti. |
| 13th April 2008 | La Nazione Agenda Siena |
“A thread for pencil”, Magazzini del Sale “A thread for pencil” is the title of the new exhibition by Gloria Campriani now on show at the Magazzini del Sale in the Palazzo Pubblico (Town Hall), Siena. Even a swallow’s nest is interwoven with fibres and mixed with clay, is the exhibition’s message. The show will close on April 30th; opening times: daily, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (0577 292226) (www.gloriacampriani.com) |
| Catalogue april 2008 | “A debut novel Love of novelty for threads”. Sandra Landi. |
An artist is born when he decides to be one, says Albert Camus. And Gloria Campriani has decided to be one. And to be one by skipping over that subtle line of shadow that separates art from craft. Thus her debut novel has all the freshness and the strength of intuition that pushes towards a search for depth, the will to innovate, and the studium of art. Her work presents a succession of two-dimensional mediums that do not overlap, but become combinations of vertical and horizontal columns generating the miracle of simultaneity. It provokes a glance with a form, a global idea typical of the world of gestaltic arts in which it is the whole that determines the parts. The vague is not arbitrary, but is born from semantically leaving the details uncertain. The accent does not beat on the structure or the geometry of the form, but on the search for the calibrated dosage of the winding curves and points of hearts. Gloria Campriani traces her path in the fog of a contemporary artist, begins with her materials to go beyond; from a material whereabouts towards a tendency to go beyond the infinite, beyond the form, beyond color, beyond reality. It's the heart that speaks, and every beat is a syllabic thread that renounces phonation and gives to pulsation, those echoes of spirit and body that arise with her own metaphorical intensity like dreams at the first rays of dawn. An innate emotional strength emerges through the elegant air of a culture that aspires to grow, fed from an exterior curiosity ready to let rise what is already intimately interior. The pieces are realities snatched and reduced to crumbs of meditation, small and large woven oblongs caressed by a calming light that does not reveal but erodes, captivated as in the nudity of colors or the stripped elegance of white. A collection of threads, fed on the yeast of a syllabic interiority, are worked and shaped in their spaces of gathering. Connecting threads of stories to narrate, the end of threads to untangle the world, sewn to mend, cotton puffs to heal. Weaves create intrigue, swathes that envelope and fascinate. [Filoneismo del filo: Thread theories.(?)] Fairy-tale forms appear, turgid and dry, alternating between full and empty, sound and silence, ghosts of a restricted reality capable of opening the senses toward undefined spaces, evoking mythical voices – the Sphinx and the Mermaid, Morgana and Melusina – keeping and expanding the core of what is feminine. An interior mumbling reverberates, a spiritual voice is heard that no sound can accompany in the search for a new harmony of silence. The work is a challenge towards the material and its finiteness, towards the goal of an imaginary ghost ship that, no longer at sea and tired of infinite freedom, searches for a landing in the comfortable embrace of art. The symbol of thread traces the passions quae sunt in anima, capable of transmitting energy and pathos. One can say it is the artistic language that casts a net towards form and color. So we are drawn not only to see, but also to touch, pushed by the latent eroticism of a glance. The style is linear and seductive, somber and synthetic, in love with the material that molds but reactive to materials and the allurements of color. Labyrinthic microcosm, beyond time and space. Gloria's art is a spiritual voice that no sound can accompany, but reproduces musical notes inscribed in midair, waiting to find its symphony in the completion of a musical score. Sandra Landi writer |
| Catalogue april 2008 | A long thread… Mauro Civai. |
A long thread traverses Gloria Campriani’s work, and not only materially: her reliance on textile materials, which have accompanied her throughout her development and guided her life experiences, is clearly evident, although it is also true that her work unravels itself through a continuity that recalls the weft of a canvas, in which many separate lines are composed to form objects and shapes, sometimes in complex and intricate ways. The thread in Gloria Campriani’s work is stretched and knotted up until it takes on the characteristics of a rather innovative language, even though it speaks of ancestral themes known to everybody (albeit in the unconscious), and nonetheless manages to stimulate our curiosity and will to seek inside ourselves, at a time in which every piece of information is hyper-structured and aims to appease all thirst for knowledge; a time in which to be astonished we need ever more complicated and perilous special effects. Gloria Campriani’s Sienese exhibition will therefore help document how much twentieth century art did not seek the deconstruction of the figure from a solid shape to one merely traced and hinted at in vain. The artist manages to accomplish this by unwinding a skein of yarn, by unravelling a tangle - by understanding how to untie the famous Gordian Knot with light and inspired hands rather than cutting it with the sharp sword of Alexander the Great. Mauro Civai |
| Catalogue april 2008 | Gloria Campriani: Art hung by a thread. Maurizio Vanni. |
I am often asked during conferences and debates what it means to be an artist in the third millennium, where contemporary art is heading and how an artist can become recognized as a witness of his or her times. In theory it’s impossible to answer such questions with certainty, because they can be considered as a kind of equation with several unknowns. In practice we could give a plausible answer if we consider a militant artist as somebody who places his or her own means of expression – whichever it may be – at everybody’s disposal to project thoughts, moods and emotions from the abstractness of inner life to the concreteness of the artistic product. True art depends on the essence of truth, transparency and purity of soul. Gloria Campriani does not ask herself whether what she does is contemporary or not, but tries to follow her own constant curiosity towards the various aspects of being, more with instinct and intuition than with rationality. To observe one of Campriani’s works can mean losing oneself in colour effects that would be impossible to achieve with traditional pictorial techniques, or being fascinated by an artful light generated by a combination of coloured threads, by a chromatic flow produced by fibres that are perfectly integrated in a composition seemingly in eternal evolution. The symbolism of the thread is essentially that of the means that connects the various states of existence with each other and their origin. Once placed on the main structure of her work, each of Campriani’s threads seems to transform itself into a conductor of positive energy, into a carrier of essences of truth, into the boundary line of a dimensional aperture capable of relating the finite to the infinite. The symbolism of the thread can also often be found in the Upanishad – treatises of the eighth to seventh century B.C. in prose or verse, dedicated to showing the path to transcendental truth – in which it is transformed into a mystical conduit between this world, the other world and human beings. In some of her works, Gloria Campriani hints at the existence of this passage and alludes to the possibility of another dimension. In others, her will to push the spectator beyond the superficial by means of the red thread that unites all worldly things is clearly evident. Speaking of threads, it is impossible not to think of Ariadne’s thread: the connection with the centre of that famous labyrinth leading from the world of darkness to the world of light. Chromatic spells, protruding parts and fissures that evade all attempts at investigation: from the greyness of a background, from the less ostentatious part of something which escapes us, suddenly we see an unexpected and improbable light, a magic gleam that reminds us how our lives are hung by a thread, but also how it is possible to recreate the true existence of being, unmasked, from a simple thread.Maurizio Vanni, art critic. |