Fabrizio Cotognini's 'The Flying Dutchman' at Palazzo Buonaccorsi

Fabrizio Cotognini (Macerata, 1983) presents 'The Flying Dutchman' at Musei Civici di Palazzo Buonaccorsi in Macerata, a solo exhibition curated by Riccardo Tonti Bandini with supervision by Paola Ballesi. The show, divided into fourteen episodes across the piano nobile, takes Richard Wagner's opera 'Der Fliegende Holländer' as its conceptual starting point, deconstructing it into a philosophical tractatus where drawing governs time and logic. Cotognini, who previously engaged with Wagner's 'Parsifal', explores the legend of the ghost ship through literary, iconographic, and social references, creating a Gesamtkunstwerk that merges light, color, and sound. The exhibition includes bronze birds struck by arrows, triptychs on easels, a carousel-like vitrine containing Marco van Basten's AC Milan jersey (the 'Flying Dutchman' nickname), and a theatrical tower referencing Vettor Pisani and William Kentridge (dOCUMENTA 13). In the Sala di Amore e Psiche, twelve easels hold portraits of hypothetical silent viewers conceived during lockdown. The Sala dell'Eneide functions as a 'brain' with vanitas and vitrines of books, notes, and comics. The Sala di Ercole features two copper-plated ships evoking Edward Fitzball's libretto. A blue film on windows in the corridor creates a metaphorical marine atmosphere, suggesting redemption. The catalog includes a critical contribution by Eugenio Viola. After summer, Cotognini will host educational workshops with students.