Laura Pugno's 'L'invisibilità dell'inverno' at Galleria Alberto Peola, Turin

Laura Pugno (born 1975 in Trivero) presents 'L'invisibilità dell'inverno', curated by Manuela Pacella, at Galleria Alberto Peola in Turin. The exhibition reflects on the work of Wilson Alwyn Bentley, who for over forty years photographed snowflakes and crystals, calling them 'tiny miracles of beauty'. The first work encountered, 'Orizzonti', is placed on a surface angled at 23°, the same as the Earth's axial tilt, forcing the viewer into an unnatural posture that heightens attention. On the walls, a series of monochromatic informal abstractions, 'Omaggio a Wilson Bentley', are generated by pigmented snow impressions that melt on canvas; the unpredictable final result depends on the snow's qualities, which the artist archives. On iridescent pedestals sits 'A futura memoria' (2018): appearing as mineral fragments, these are casts made in anticipation of snow's disappearance, whose decline we experience each winter. The artist presents six photographs taken in different locations in the Piedmontese Alps, mounted on aluminum. The abrasion on the works results from the artist using them as sleds: the weight of her body left an imprint on the image, paradoxically restoring functionality to something inherently non-functional—the artwork.