Calixto Ramírez Brings Arte Povera to Rome After Monteluco Residency

Calixto Ramírez (Reynosa, 1980) presents Sin Nada at Alessandra Bonomo Gallery in Rome, a show born from a 36-day residency at the hermitage of Monteluco (Spoleto). The exhibition is divided into as many sections as days of his stay, featuring photographic records of found objects along the Bosco Sacro trails. Ramírez's practice, which he embraced in Mexico in 2009, explicitly cites Arte Povera, a movement he encountered through Jannis Kounellis, who invited him to Italy shortly before his death. The work 2+2=3 (Povertà, obbedienza e castità) references Kounellis, Richard Serra's antiform investigation in Belts (1966-67), and Saint Francis's rule for hermitages. The title Sin Nada (With Nothing) evokes the poverist approach, using residual materials to create unstable equilibriums. The series SUNS pays homage to Sol LeWitt, an old friend and guest at the Bonomo hermitage, with geometric shapes silhouetting photographed leaves. Found bottle necks suspended on a rope allude to the Franciscan cord, staging tension between human presence and pristine environments. The exhibition metaphorically balances environmental spontaneity and human anthropization.