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Image: Giovanni Anselmo
Group Exhibition

Giovanni Anselmo Rethinking Romanticism in Contemporary Art, La Spezia

Until September 13, 2026, the CAMeC – Center for Modern and Contemporary Art of La Spezia opens its halls to the new exhibition " Rethinking Romanticism in Contemporary Art," curated by Elena Volpato . The exhibition offers a profound investigation of the spiritual and visual legacy of three masters of painting —Caspar David Friedrich, John Constable, and J.M.W. Turner—and reflects it in the works of seven leading figures on the international art scene: Giovanni Anselmo, Massimo Bartolini, Ian Kiaer, David Schutter, Linda Fregni Nagler, Pesce Khete, and Michele Tocca. A fascinating journey that connects the great painting of the 19th century to the expressive explorations of our time. Far from being a simple historical celebration, the exhibition illustrates how the connection between humanity, nature, and infinity remains important in art today. The journey winds through three conceptual strands that correspond to the different "souls" of Romanticism: Friedrich's hermetic and metaphysical art , Constable's candid naturalism and Turner's landscape as a mental space .

In the footsteps of Caspar David Friedrich, artists Giovanni Anselmo, Linda Fregni Nagler, Ian Kiaer, and Massimo Bartolini invite reflection on the individual's sense of bewilderment and wonder in the face of the cosmos. Through magnetic sculptures, photographic archives, symbolic "dews," and fragile structures like modern ruins, the works invite the viewer to engage with the vastness and the unknown. Inspired by John Constable, his simple and candid painting of landscapes and nature, Michele Tocca proposes a pure and direct style. Through the practice of plein air painting and the mnemonic study of the pictorial gesture, the two artists seek "firstness," the ability to look at the world with unspoiled eyes. The study of clouds and the pure rendering of landscapes become a spiritual exercise in rediscovering the truth of simple things. David Schutter also starts from Constable but to question the colonial culture that he sees expressed in the spatial construction of a painting of fundamental historical value such as The Groove, 1822, preserved at the Tate in London.
11 April - 13 September 2026
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