Elena El Asmar's 'Le Fantasmagoriche' at BUILDING Milano explores memory and Mediterranean geographies

Elena El Asmar presents 'Le Fantasmagoriche: visioni in transito' at BUILDING TERZO PIANO in Milano, curated by Marina Dacci, running from 26 March to 2 May 2026. The exhibition assembles works from 2008 to 2026, including sculptures, glass pieces, and works on paper and board, conceived as a single visual organism rather than a retrospective. Central to the installation is 'L’esercizio del lontano,' a series of sculptures made from collected, assembled, and coated glass that function as thresholds. The artist's practice is deeply tied to a biographical memory traversing the Mediterranean, specifically between Italy and Lebanon, with references to Venice, Rome, Siena, Salento, and Baalbek. Curator Marina Dacci notes the works speak of an inner space made of star vibrations, sky intensity, water depths, and bird flight grooves—a dreamed and dreaming space. In a niche, 'Le ore terse' requires viewer movement to reveal an image engraved in glass, described by Dacci as an evanescent image that comes to life when sought. The exhibition creates an environment where time deposits and stratifies, with each element relating to others to build a rhythm of pauses and resonances. El Asmar's research develops on the ridge between Italian and Lebanese geographies, translating the movement between presence and distance into a practice of accumulation and transformation.