Interno metafisico, 2022

The plaster cast of the torso of the Hermes of Praxiteles, resting on a plinth, is framed, in the upper part, by a rectangular metal frame that hangs from the ceiling by means of two nylon threads. On the ground, very close to the plinth, a metal sphere – made up of four intersecting rings, similar to an armillary sphere – holds the torn fragments of photographic reproductions in negative of the same sphere.
Whereas the rectangular metal frame evokes a nameless portrait, the faceless torso represents an ideal model, albeit a lost one: it recalls the dimension of the classical, unapproachable yet ever-present in the artist’s memory. Similarly, the photographic fragments placed inside the sphere allude to the (fruitless) attempt to reproduce the completeness of the spherical astrolabe, which by recalling a celestial context amplifies the reference to a context of indescribable perfection. The transcendent aspect, invoked by the Hermes and the sphere, is among other things foreshadowed by the title – borrowed from Giorgio de Chirico – which refers to the metaphysical dimension of art.