Elisa Sighicelli's Four Cardinal Points at Villa Pignatelli

Gianluigi Ricuperati writes an open letter to young artists, urging them to learn from Elisa Sighicelli (Turin, 1968), a photographer and experimental printer whose work is on view at Museo di Villa Pignatelli in Naples. Sighicelli, who previously showed with Gagosian, left the gallery to pursue a more independent path. Her exhibition at Villa Pignatelli, a 19th-century Aragonese villa on the Naples waterfront, presents works printed on travertine, marble, and satin, exploring the boundary between photographic image and physical object. Ricuperati outlines four lessons: 1) artists must engage with classical questions about representation and illusion; 2) they should doubt their career path, as Sighicelli did by leaving Gagosian; 3) they must infuse language into beauty, avoiding political or identity themes; 4) they need spatial awareness, as Sighicelli's installation is choreographed like a walk. The show includes works from the series "Storie di Pietrofori e Rasomanti" (2018-2020), which Ricuperati describes as unfashionable in the hyper-correct era but crucial for their joy of seeing. He compares Sighicelli to theologian Ferdinando Tartaglia and references Valerio Magrelli's essay on the visible in Paul Valéry.