Massimiliano Pelletti's 'Looking forward to the past' at MARCA Catanzaro

The exhibition 'Looking forward to the past' by sculptor Massimiliano Pelletti is on view at MARCA in Catanzaro until April 30. Featuring about thirty works, many created specifically for the museum, the show highlights Pelletti's reinterpretation of classical thought through contemporary forms. Born in 1975 in Pietrasanta, the artist works with marble, onyx, and alabaster. His grandfather, also a sculptor, participated in the restoration of Michelangelo's Pietà after the 1972 vandal attack. Pelletti's recent interest in African art is presented for the first time in this exhibition. He finds in African sculptures a ritual, almost liturgical dimension that echoes the hieratic quality of Hellenistic sculpture and the totemic aspect of Native American art. The artist personally creates all works, following a slow creative process. His approach emphasizes empathy with the material, respecting its defects, veins, and voids, allowing the stone to become a sentient being. Works like 'Metamorphosis' show a Venus emerging from a pile of wood and beams with Greek statue heads, reminiscent of Michelangelo Pistoletto's 'Venus of the Rags'. Pelletti's marble retains natural holes and imperfections, which are highlighted rather than hidden, aligning with body positivity philosophy. The exhibition was reviewed by Laura Cocciolillo for Artribune.