“Duetto”: an intergenerational dialogue on the contamination between image and language

The exhibition, composed of artworks by Giuseppe Chiari and Luca Massaro, explores the innate performative properties of the word, refuting the binary divisions to which we are accustomed.

Non siamo più artisti non siamo più niente. 1973. Mixed technique, cm 195x290. Giuseppe Chiari. Image courtesy Viasaterna.

"Duetto". Viasaterna. Milan, Italy. Image courtesy Viasaterna.

Chiudere gli occhi... 1999. Marker on paper, cm 25x18. Giuseppe Chiari. Image courtesy Viasaterna.

"Duetto". Viasaterna. Milan, Italy. Image courtesy Viasaterna.

Senza Titolo. 1990-93. Mixed technique on paper on canvans, cm 27,5x50. Giuseppe Chiari. Image courtesy Viasaterna.

"Duetto". Viasaterna. Milan, Italy. Image courtesy Viasaterna.

"Duetto". Viasaterna. Milan, Italy. Image courtesy Viasaterna.

"La Notte". Lightbox, cm 70x400x10. Luca Massaro. Image courtesy of Viasaterna.

From 31 January to 24 March, at Viasaterna, in Milan, you can visit “Duetto”, an intergenerational exhibition that represents a dialogue between the works of pianist and composer Giuseppe Chiari (Florence, 1926 - 2007) and those of the young artist and photographer Luca Massaro (Reggio Emilia, 1991), around the innumerable forms that language assumes in visual art.

Through a rhythmic setting, the exhibition presents a selection of works on paper and collage made by Chiari between the late seventies and the beginning of the nineties, along with Massaro’s metal “canvases” and sculptures, taken from the recent Dictionary Vol.1 (Art Paper Editions, 2023).

The exhibition contributes to refuting the arbitrary divisions between reality and representation, reading and sight, literality and metaphor. Both artists, with their works, have undertaken a formal and semiotic investigation on the visual impact of the written text, contaminating image and language, and interpreting the innate performative properties of symbols and speech.

Non siamo più artisti non siamo più niente. 1973. Mixed technique, cm 195x290. Giuseppe Chiari.

Image courtesy Viasaterna.

"Duetto". Viasaterna. Milan, Italy.

Image courtesy Viasaterna.

Chiudere gli occhi... 1999. Marker on paper, cm 25x18. Giuseppe Chiari.

Image courtesy Viasaterna.

"Duetto". Viasaterna. Milan, Italy.

Image courtesy Viasaterna.

Senza Titolo. 1990-93. Mixed technique on paper on canvans, cm 27,5x50. Giuseppe Chiari.

Image courtesy Viasaterna.

"Duetto". Viasaterna. Milan, Italy.

Image courtesy Viasaterna.

"Duetto". Viasaterna. Milan, Italy.

Image courtesy Viasaterna.

"La Notte". Lightbox, cm 70x400x10. Luca Massaro.

Image courtesy of Viasaterna.