Colour clash: Lorenzo Vitturi interrogates his mixed cultural heritage, and the ‘hybridity’ of tradition
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All images © Lorenzo Vitturi.
Vitturi’s latest show is an intense and abstract exploration of tradition, ancient craftsmanship and culture
Aventurine is the name given to both an ancient mineral and glass-making process. The latter originated in the 17th century, when an artisan working on the island of Murano in Venice (famous for its numerous glass workshops) accidentally dropped copper into liquid glass, creating a mesmerising effect. The same name is given to a 2.5-million-year-old mineral that has the appearance of a crystal-like quartz with thousands of tiny stars inside.
Aventurine, in both its forms, is the conceptual cue for Lorenzo Vitturi’s latest body of work, now on show at Nature Morte Gallery in New Delhi, India. It draws on the materials’ cultural history, using it as a metaphor to interrogate the diverse cultural identity of the Italian-Peruvian artist – whose father is from Murano. The exhibition, titled Aventurine, transformations, and other stories, represents the next chapter of a larger and ongoing series, Caminantes.
Those familiar with Vitturi’s work will be well aware of his mastery of colour and texture. In Dalston Anatomy (2013), he photographed the people and objects around Ridley Road Market, near where he was living at the time in London. Noticing the energy and rapidly changing community, he fashioned raw, ephemeral sculptures using these images and found materials from the area. In his project Money Must be Made (2017), he constructed intricate still lifes from photographs and objects he made and collected from Balogun Market Lagos, Nigeria, commenting on the city’s society and economy.
“In my work I am trying to mix different techniques, visually and aesthetically. It’s really important because it means there’s a real cultural exchange through craft and collaboration.”
This time, Vitturi’s interest in aventurine took him to India, where a special green version of the mineral is typically found near Mysore and Chennai. The artist has been working and travelling around the country for many months observing its landscape and natural rhythms and building a picture archive in response. He became acquainted with local artisans working with traditional crafts, such as weaving. The experience led to a close collaboration with the textile workers from the Jaipur Rugs Foundation, as well as the glassworkers from Murano and weavers and ceramicists from Peru. “The idea of this exhibition is to show the complexity of different cultures merging,” he says. “In my work I am trying to mix different techniques, visually and aesthetically. It’s really important because it means there’s a real cultural exchange through craft and collaboration.” He adds: “Collaborations bring together new stories and the team brings the work to life. From these experiments we learn new ways of working. This is one of my goals.”
“I’m trying to find the coincidence and connection between two things that are totally different. In my still lifes, I place materials together that wouldn’t exist side by side in real life.”
The exhibition room is filled with magnificent sculptural works and still lifes made from glass and mineral, married with thick, woven tapestries. Heavily edited and “reducted” images of objects, fragments and textures also play a role in the compositions – using the photographs themselves as a material. Then, photographic prints of smaller, intricate still lifes constructed from the same materials as the rugs, create a dialogue between the mediums.
“My approach to using photography is really working with fragments, or segments of space and architecture – also of the human body. Some people see [the sculptures] as anatomies,” Vitturi observes. “Aesthetically they can resemble organs. I find that quite interesting.” He adds: “I’m trying to find the coincidence and connection between two things that are totally different. In my still lifes, I place materials together that wouldn’t exist side by side in real life.”
Though the exhibition is an intense and abstract exploration of tradition, ancient craftsmanship and cultures across different continents, Vitturi authentically and personally connects to every element. “Tradition is seen as something essential and unique to a specific culture,” Vitturi says. But actually, it is a mix of something that happened in the past, a hybrid. I think it’s really important to remember that especially today with the global, political situation. It’s an important theme in all my work.”
Aventurine, transformations, and other stories is on show at Nature Morte, New Delhi until 11 December 2022.
