Massimo Bartolini fills deconsecrated Cremona church with dead lights

Italian artist Massimo Bartolini (born 1962 in Cecina) has created a site-specific installation titled "100 giorni" in the deconsecrated Church of San Carlo in Cremona. The work features a dense tangle of unlit Sicilian luminarie—festive light structures typically used in village celebrations—forming an architectural body of modular geometries. Stripped of light, the luminarie become an essential framework, freezing the festive moment between past and future. At the back of the altar, a red neon tube illuminates and gives voice to two mural writings discovered in Cremona's prison. The installation constructs a double threshold, subtracting light from the festive device and returning it to the voice of the isolated individual. The exhibition is part of the San Carlo project, a contemporary art space initiated by Lorenzo Spinelli and Form. The Creative Group, which reopened the 17th-century church in 2021 after years of neglect. Previous interventions include Marcello Maloberti's "Metronotte" in July 2025. The show runs until January 16, 2026.