Luca Maria Patella's Retrospective at Palazzina dei Giardini, Modena

The Palazzina dei Giardini in Modena hosts a solo exhibition of Luca Maria Patella (born 1934, Rome), curated by Massimo Bignardi, spanning from the mid-1960s to the 1990s. Patella, son of a scientist and humanist cosmographer, has expertise in cosmology, structural chemistry, analytical psychology, and optics. He built his own cameras for each artistic project, pioneering experimental media including film, artist books, painting, video, sculpture, engraving, performance, and photography. The exhibition features the series "Paesaggio colorato" (1966) and rare large-format Polaroids from 1992, along with numerous selfies, fish-eye lenses, double exposures, infrared light, and pinhole techniques. Patella coined the term "Senza Peso" (Weightless) in the mid-1960s to describe his fluid transformation between media. His works engage with classical art, including a reinterpretation of Jan van Eyck's "Arnolfini Portrait" featuring his wife Rosa Foschi, also an artist. Three films from the 1960s are screened, anticipating later movements like Land Art. The exhibition's subtitle "utile ti sia!" is inspired by Dante's "La Vita Nova." Patella's signature shell ("patella" in Italian) appears in many shots. Bignardi describes Patella as a "psychonaut," emphasizing the relationship between art and science.