A come Accademia (II), 2023

In the middle of a room, on a plinth resting on a platform are several plaster fragments from a female figure – an arm and a face are recognizable; other fragments are scattered around on the platform itself. Up against two opposite walls, the cast of the same female nude covering her face is divided in half, each one arranged on a plinth.
Between the fragments and the two halves, the gaze seeks a whole image, in vain: they all beckon to each other and in turn refer to the whole figure, which is not visible, and only alluded to, however. In other words, the work represents the impossibility of capturing the ideal model, of achieving a complete image, which is announced by decompositions and fragments, albeit escaping every attempt at fixing or recomposing them.
The number in the title continues the conversation with the academic surroundings, which began in 2010 with a work having the same title, although formally rather different, made on the occasion of the solo exhibition held at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan (cf. GPO-1005). A come Accademia (II) was created, together with A come Accademia (III) (cf. GPO-1054), for the solo exhibition at the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome.