He did not choose noble marble, nor mighty bronze or the luminescence of neon. He went in search of the waste that nobody wanted, and what is more, of a common, overabundant material with a high impact on the environment: plastic. And not even post-consumer plastic waste, the kind we litter around the globe. A pre-waste that is already waste: the moulds and scraps of plastic melting. Davide Dall’Osso’s is, to all intents and purposes, a unique artistic journey, which has led him to be one of the first to reflect on the theme of sustainability and to make “salvaged” art in Italy.
In this way, plastic, a symbolic material of the consumer age, is transformed and conveys a message of sustainability, respect and dialogue. A synthetic, artificial, impactful material finds new life thanks to the processing that Dall’Osso gives it and to the scenic and dramatic context where he places it; thus, waste stimulates the community to become aware of a problem that already concerns it, the condition of scarcity of all resources on Earth, and invites it to reflect and act.
The works of Dall’Osso’s “ex-scraps” animate the 4th edition of the widespread exhibition, promoted by the Municipality of Castelfiorentino and the project called “Metamorfosi” and curated by Maria Vittoria Gozio. The exhibition, which this year is entitled “Community”, is set in the context of a city that was a protagonist of the industrial era and that, on the impulse of a young and strong-willed municipal Council, is now questioning itself on how to design a new shared development.
In this, art has a decisive task. Thanks to Dall’Osso’s works, art reappropriates public space, which has always been artistic space, enters into public and private life, brings everyone closer together, unites everyone. And here we return to the “discarded”, to those who are e-marginalised and whom art naturally reunites.
“We contacted the artist Davide Dall’Osso a few years ago, and at first we insisted on bringing him to Castelfiorentino,” emphasises the Mayor, Alessio Falorni, “but soon, together with his wife, Vittoria, they fell in love with our city, even deciding to move here and open their Atelier in our city. From this choice of life and from Davide Dall’Osso’s first exhibition here in Castelfiorentino came the proposal to then set up other widespread exhibitions dedicated to the theme of the circular economy, with exhibition events linked to names such as Antonio Massarutto and Brunivo Buttarelli. This is how the great Metamorphosis project was born in collaboration with the C.E.T.R.A. association and with a view to municipal co-planning. To close a circle, this year – the last of our term – it seemed right to conclude with a new exhibition by this great artist. Not to end one project, but as an invitation to open another. We hope, therefore, that this may represent the beginning of a renewed path of art for our city”.
“Together with Atelier Dall’Osso,” observes Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Culture, Claudia Centi, “the Administration has been stimulated in the search for new open-air spaces, near museums, churches or buildings of particular historical interest, so that our community could breathe in art and culture at full throttle in completely different contexts than those it was accustomed to frequenting. Davide Dall’Osso’s new exhibition proposal gives us a compelling and virtuous combination of the artistic and educational dimensions, represented precisely by recycling and the “second life” offered to discarded plastic materials. Figurative, evocative, dreamy works that from the eyes speak directly to the heart and soul.”
Among the artist’s favorite subjects are women, captured in their beauty, strength but also delicacy and interiority, as in the works “Duende” and “Ballerine”. After all, Castelfiorentino is a land that has written pages of history in the work and struggle for women’s emancipation, emblematic in this sense is the story of the flask-makers.
Precisely the plastic materials, thanks to the moisture collected and the air retained, with the particular processing chosen by the artist, lend themselves to assume the most varied forms, allowing the release of an ancient drama given by a contemporary feeling.
Providing much of the polycarbonate scrap used for the sculptures is the Prato-based company Isopad, which, Davide Dall’Osso explains, “has a great sensitivity towards the environment: they devote time, employees and, therefore, resources to support my artistic journey, helping me in the selection and collection”.
It was precisely in Castelfiorentino that Davide Dall’Osso and his wife, Co-Founder & Creative Director of Atelier Dall’Osso snc, Maria Vittoria Gozio, found that community “to which they belonged”, which they had long sought and which was not easy to find. To this community they decided to give something back, by investing in the territory.
As part of the Metamorphosis project, born from a co-project between the Municipality of Castelfiorentino, the C.E.T.R.A. association and Atelier Dall’Osso, a space dedicated to workshop teaching and activities for exploring and experimenting with unstructured material, in this case industrial waste, was created at Atelier Dall’Osso.
The widespread exhibition is part of the project guideline dedicated to tourism and culture; a second guideline of the project concerns socio-educational activities, curated by the C.E.T.R.A. association, thanks to which school, extracurricular and training courses for teachers and educators are activated. Municipal summer activities are also partly planned to tie in with the artists who exhibit, from time to time, in Castelfiorentino (Dall’Osso, Massarutto, Buttarelli).
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Press Office
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