Michele Ciacciofera’s ‘The Library of Encoded Time’ at Galerie Michel Rein

Michele Ciacciofera’s exhibition 'The Library of Encoded Time' at Galerie Michel Rein in Paris (February 9–April 6, 2019) explores memory and the passage of time through a blend of collected and fabricated archaeological fragments. The Italian artist (born 1969, based in Paris) uses materials such as clay, ceramic, resin, and gold leaf to create objects that mimic fossils and ancient artifacts. In the larger gallery room, the floor installation 'The Library of Encoded Time' (2019) arranges old bricks inscribed with indecipherable signs, evoking lost languages. Surrounding this are steel grids woven with colored wool and populated with small objects—both collected and made—that span cultures and eras, including a Celtic pendant and a pre-Columbian pottery fragment. This work, 'Janas Code' (2019), blurs temporal and spatial boundaries. A smaller room functions as a cabinet of curiosities, displaying drawings, sculptures, fossils on clay feet, and 'Bees’ Books' (2016) in honeycomb form. Throughout the exhibition, clay sticks coated with layers of material and painted with emoticon-like symbols lean against walls, bridging primitive and contemporary signs. Ciacciofera, who participated in Christine Macel’s 'Viva Arte Viva' at the 2017 Venice Biennale, draws inspiration from Sardinian and Sicilian heritage, infusing his work with a sense of universal connection.