The exhibition in the exquisite Palazzo Carpegna, starting on the ground floor then along the courtyard portico and ending along the Borromini ramp, displaying the many techniques used by the artist, from light and video projection, maps to drawings, in the search for what the artist calls “life,” in its broadest sense: earth, cosmos and the human body. Unlike many video artist’s exhibitions we become privy to the development of the project from the first drawings to the final video and light presentation. It’s a follow up to two previous projects, Marco (I Mark) from 2019 and Marco (We Mark), 2020. The inspiration for the project started when the artist invited her brother, Marco Toderi, an agronomist like her father, to make a series of images of deserted lands, chosen and “marked” by his passage and gaze and this then resulted in an exchange of mutual reflections on earth and the elements – air, water and fire. It’s about the elements that make life possible. “I spend almost all my time layering the images I have taken, one on top of the other. Every single frame turns into another, just slightly different, and so on, multiplying into thousands of other frames that flow brightly over a surface and through time. This is how my video projections are born.”
Walking through the first part of the exhibition has the pleasurable effect of disorientating the viewer with its moving images, vibrant colors and space-like sounds, “like the sounds I imagine an astronaut hears while on his journey through space.” The show continues through the portico courtyard then up the ramp designed by Borromini, which is in itself a work of art not to be missed. The illustrations are perfectly placed and take the viewer into the primordial world of creation of this work. All the elements come together to take us on a journey where the viewer decides where it leads, while pondering our existence, our actions to the world and universe at large, and the consequences. Are we one with the universe or just a non-causal speck on the globe?
Grazia Toderi is one of the most recognized contemporary artists working in Italy and internationally especially for art installations and video art. She is also a writer, photographer and painter. Her work is recognizable by her iconic use of aerial images of cities at night and she credits her visualizations of the infinite due to watching the first moonwalk. She first gained critical attention in 1993 where she exhibited in the 45th Venice Biennale, then returned in 1999 (winning the Golden Lion) and in 2009. She has had numerous exhibitions in public spaces and in museums including: Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona; Serralves Museum, Porto; Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; MAXXI Rome.
Marco (I Mark We Mark)
Art Exhibition
By Grazia Toderi
L’Accademia Nazionale di San Luca
10 June – 30 July 2022
Curated by Marco Tirelli
Address: Piazza Accademia di S. Luca, 77 00187 Rome
Tickets and opening hours
Free admission and Guided tours by reservation only, can be booked via e-mail:
prenotazioni@accademiasanluca.it
telephone: +39.06.6798850 (information)
or directly at the information desk
Opening hours
Tuesday through Saturday 10:00-17:00
Guided tours at 10:00 11:30 13:00 14:30 16:00 (Tuesdays only)
Sunday and Monday closed
Song Paradiso is an Alabama native residing in Rome after living most of her life in London as a never-ending University student but found time to be an accomplished singer, musician, photographer, goldsmith, dating coach, painter and Complementary therapist using Energy Medicine and Homeopathy. Deejaying for friends since the age of 3 she feels that being raised in the 70s/80s gave her a firm foundation for music appreciation thanks to her father’s vast array of vinyl from all genres such as Jazz, Funk, Blues, Classical and Rock. She attended concerts such as Parliament, The Jackson 5, Earth Wind and Fire, Neil Young, Grateful Dead plus many others. She is a fatalist and this was reinforced when she had a Spiritual experience in Rome and swears she will never leave but she still travels, loves reading about Ancient History, Natural Health, Esoterica and the Arcane. She is obsessed about being a mother, organic living, yoga, UAPs, cinema and music but her guilty pleasures are Reality TV and vegan gelato.
Philosophy: Everything has a Divine Spark
I am impressed by the latest works. I have a vast collection of Toderi’s early work. Many were collaborations..
Thank you for your valuable comment, it’s precious to hear from someone who is a collector of Toderi’s work and I share the same sentiment. This was particularly touching to me because she found a way to include her brother which I understand as an expat. I am curious to know what did you like about this exhibition.