Maurizio Pellegrin Returns to Venice with Two Exhibitions

Maurizio Pellegrin (Venice, 1956) presents two concurrent exhibitions in Venice: 'The Red, The Black and The Other' at Galleria Michela Rizzo and 'Also, the Elephants travel to Venice' at Spazio dell'Oratorio di San Ludovico di Nuova Icona. The artist, who originally aspired to be a poet, creates installations using collected objects—trinkets, fabrics, gears—arranged like words in a text to generate new meanings. At Galleria Michela Rizzo, the works are predominantly monochrome (black, red, brown, white) with occasional gold inserts, including the series 'Red Venetian Papers' and 'Black Venetian Papers' made in New York while thinking of Venice. Numerological values are assigned to each element. The site-specific installation at Nuova Icona, curated by Vittorio Urbani, demonstrates Pellegrin's ability to balance fullness and emptiness. Seven new works on paper are also on view at Marignana Arte. Pellegrin describes his practice as using objects and images instead of words to create evocative, metaphorical texts.