Stefano Arienti's Manipulated Books Transform at Palazzo Marchi in Parma

Stefano Arienti (Asola, 1961), a leading contemporary artist, presents 'Coltivazioni erbacee' at Palazzo Marchi in Parma, curated by Elena Bray. The exhibition transforms existing books—guides, encyclopedias, comics—into art through techniques like perforation, folding, and erasure. In the courtyard, a new installation 'Orto dei libri' features books drilled with a column drill and placed among raspberry, laurel, kiwi, and vine trees, alongside oak, plane, and bamboo trunks. This living work will be revisited for a commissioned sculpture in India. Inside, a Milan telephone directory has each page partially erased with mural paint. Other works include erased books with nature photos where text is removed with a pencil eraser, a 2007 book with Albert Einstein's face by Philippe Halsman cut in two, and book spines arranged in a wave-like sound reference (first shown in 2006 at his New York solo debut). 'Copertine italiane' displays about eighty books with art-covered covers and twelve manipulated artist monographs; Enzo Cucchi's monograph has images replaced with cat-painting pictures, amusing Cucchi. The show ends with a site-specific version of 'Enciclopedia' in the 18th-century dance hall, where encyclopedias dialogue with the space, set on white wool creating a cloud effect. Arienti's work, rooted in late 1980s–early 1990s Italian art, echoes Arte Povera and Transavanguardia's focus on process and manual manipulation.