From Città di Castello to Rome, Stefano Lazzari's first exhibition
Stefano Lazzari's first solo exhibition ended on 26 February 2023 and opened on 13 December 2022 at the Museo delle Mura in Rome. Curated by the art critic Tommaso Strinati, promoted by Roma Culture, the Capitoline Superintendency of Cultural Heritage and by Bottega Tifernate, with the museum services of Zètema Progetto Cultura, Stefano Lazzari makes his debut as an artist in the Eternal City.
In 2010 the owner of Bottega Tifernate became interested and approached contemporary art. Inspired by the beauty of the landscapes of his beloved Umbria, he begins to experiment by carving wood and using colors that capture attention. The first work he created was inspired by the colors and territories of Norcia. Work that will be donated, in 2020, to the Municipality of Norcia. Thanks to this initiative, published in all the media – says Stefano Lazzari – I was contacted by Tommaso Strinati. He appreciated my work in a way that touched my soul. Thus the idea of a collaboration was born, with the desire to create an exhibition in a historic, important and public place.
From this moment on the exhibition slowly begins to come to life. Everything is studied in detail. Once the place where the works would be exhibited was identified, the artist went to the museum several times. With the help of the camera, he captures every detail of the place to bring it back to his best in his works. Only after long months of study and planning, Stefano Lazzari begins to create his works. Once completed, the works will move to the Museo delle Mura in Rome for the inauguration on 13 December 2022, remaining there until 26 February 2023.
Stefano Lazzari created two series of paintings: Eight tondi and a Polyptych, composed of fourteen elements. All made with the same technique, the works represent different angles of the Museum. In fact, the exhibition aims to be a tribute to the extraordinary archaeological site of San Sebastiano. It is one of the most evocative spaces in Rome and is a perfect setting for contemporary dialogues.
Stefano Lazzari reinterprets in the first case, outdoors, the relationship between the Aurelian walls and the park behind them. Lazzari – says the Curator Tommaso Strinati – constructs landscapes in a schematic and architectural way. They are landscapes that magnify the smallest details.
In the second case, however, it reinterprets the very "skin" of the ancient brick. In the Polyptych – continues Strinati – Lazzari wanted to demonstrate how by extrapolating details from the walls themselves we can create compositions that are completely different from what we have in front of us in reality. These fourteen panels depict nothing more than minimal details taken from the suffering that the walls themselves demonstrate. The result by combining these details together – concludes the Curator – is truly unexpected.
To make his first experience as an artist even more significant, among the many other important visits that the exhibition recorded, we certainly find that of the Mayor of Città di Castello Luca Secondi. The Mayor has made official the possibility of bringing the exhibition to Città di Castello, the homeland of Stefano Lazzari and his family. "I am flattered to plan other events and exhibitions starting from Città di Castello which my family and I are in love with", concluded Lazzari.