Art Exhibition Inspired by John Williams' Novel 'Stoner' Opens in Certaldo

A contemporary art exhibition inspired by John Edward Williams' 1965 novel 'Stoner' is on view at Palazzo Pretorio in Certaldo, Italy. The show, curated by Cinzia Compalati and Andrea Zanetti, was first conceived in 2016 in Pescara through crowdfunding and now serves as the flagship project of the Festival delle narrazioni popolari (e impopolari) in the Empolese Valdelsa region, held under the theme 'Ci sono sempre parole'. Eight artists each interpret a character from the novel across photography, performance, video, and installation. Stefano Lanzardo (La Spezia, 1960) portrays protagonist William Stoner with four blurred photographs. Eleonora Roaro (Varese, 1989) presents Edith Stoner via a video monitor and a performance on a pink desk. Emiliano Bagnato (La Spezia, 1993) creates an interactive musical dialogue for Grace Stoner in the medieval prison. Mauro Fiorese (Verona, 1970-2016) represents friend Gordon Finch with diptychs from his blog. Zino (Teramo, 1973) tackles enemy Lomax with obsessive repetition. Roberta Montaruli (Torino, 1978) offers a charcoal video installation depicting Stoner's love affair with Katherine. Giuliano Tomaino (La Spezia, 1945) focuses on the death of Stoner's father with a painted coffin. Jacopo Simoncini (Carrara, 1979) provides a soundtrack of strained viola strings. The novel, initially unsuccessful, was republished in the early 2000s and gained popularity through word-of-mouth and social media; in Italy, Fazi Editore published it in 2012.