Chiara Camoni's Sculptural Columns Reimagine Ancient Greek Myths at SpazioA

Chiara Camoni (born 1974, Piacenza) presents her conceptual sculptures inspired by ancient Greece at SpazioA gallery in Pistoia. The exhibition centers on six column-sculptures that demarcate interior and exterior space, evoking the solemnity of ancient temples. The columns are animated by hieratic faces of Korai, guardians of a nearly forgotten sacredness, whose gaze suggests eternity. Camoni's works embody the Homeric concept of paideia—a high form of culture that shapes citizens and integrates them into the polis. The columns represent knowledge and social values, housing the great Temple of nature and society as a common home to be preserved. A disruptive element is the terrifying Medusa, recalling Caravaggio's interpretation, whose chaotic matter and bodies break the columns' harmony. According to Hesiod, Ovid, and Apollodorus, Medusa was originally a woman of extraordinary beauty before being transformed into a monster by Athena's jealousy after Poseidon's violence, and later killed by Perseus. Camoni's severed head of Medusa retains majesty; its snakes, now repulsive, become debris of knowledge. The exhibition reflects on the eternal dichotomy between form and substance, tracing the origins of Western society. The show is curated by Niccolò Lucarelli.