Tiziano Scarpa's 'Il brevetto del geco' Reviewed in Artribune

Artribune's Marco Enrico Giacomelli reviews Tiziano Scarpa's novel 'Il brevetto del geco' (Einaudi, 2016), highlighting its intertwining of art-world narratives. The cover, illustrated by Massimo Caccia, features a gecko on a Teflon washing machine porthole, symbolizing the novel's structure. One storyline follows Federico Morpio, a nearly forty-year-old artist grappling with envy and mediocrity, whose self-awareness grows during an unexpected event in Venice days before the Biennale. Another plot involves a religious journey through masterpieces like Dan Flavin's neon installation at Chiesa Rossa in Milan and Caravaggio's 'Supper at Emmaus'. The novel also references the Holy See Pavilion at the Biennale and the fictional chronovisor invented by Father Pellegrino Maria Ernetti, pursued by characters Adele and Ottavio on San Giorgio Maggiore. Giacomelli praises Scarpa's insider knowledge of the art world, citing mentions of Maurizio Cattelan, João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva, Ragnar Kjartansson, Artissima, and The Others fair. The review notes Scarpa's fluid, incantatory prose and sociological observations on contemporary sublimity and economic power.