GIANMARIA POTENZA. ELABORATING NEW CODES

14/05 - 17/10 2025

The monographic exhibition “Gianmaria Potenza. Elaborating New Codes“ opens at Palazzo Ferro Fini in Venice on May 14, 2025, organized by the Fondazione Potenza Tamini in collaboration with the Regional Council of Veneto.

Curated by Valeria Loddo, the exhibition focuses on one of the most significant phases of the Venetian artist’s career: the Elaboratori series. Developed in the early 1990s and described by critic Nicola Micieli as “a point of arrival and a new starting point” in Gianmaria Potenza’s career (1992), these works are essential for understanding the evolution of his visual language and its dialogue with the technological and cultural transformations from the 1980s to the present.

Elaboratore 47 (1991) – Mixed media on panel, 146x217x15 cm

The exhibition creates a dialogue between the Elaboratori and a selection of more recent works by Potenza, crafted in bronze, marble, and wood—approximately thirty pieces displayed across four rooms at Palazzo Ferro Fini. This juxtaposition highlights the continuity and evolution of his artistic vision, demonstrating how the formal and conceptual principles developed in the 1990s have shaped his entire body of work. The Elaboratori offer a key to interpreting Potenza’s creative trajectory, revealing a sustained reflection on visual language and the relationship between art and technology that remains strikingly relevant today.

In the Elaboratori, Potenza engages with the profound cultural transformations brought about by the digital era in the 1980s, when computing and algorithmic languages redefined communication and representation. Without directly employing digital tools, he assimilates their structural principles—modularity, seriality—and translates them into a visual language deeply rooted in craftsmanship. Each element—small wooden cubes and cylinders—is meticulously shaped, polished, and assembled, creating compositions where repetition serves as both a structural device and a means of guiding the viewer’s gaze. This balance between formal order and material tactility lies at the heart of his artistic inquiry.

Elaboratore 34 (1991) – Mixed media on panel, 200×200 cm

Unlike rigid structures, the Elaboratori function as open systems in which the repetition of geometric forms creates compositions that remain fluid, dynamic, and constantly open to variation. There is no definitive arrangement; the work hovers between structure and interpretation, inviting the viewer to explore the relationships between its elements and engage in an ongoing meaning-making process. At a time when speed and immediacy define the way images are consumed, Potenza offers an experience of contemplation—one shaped by modular logic and meditative repetition—reasserting the value of a thoughtful and active engagement with visual language.

SUPPORTING YOUNG TALENT

The exhibition is part of the Young Talents Project 2025. On May 14, 2025, the Foundation will launch a call for young musicians and composers, inviting them to translate Potenza’s unique visual grammar into sound. The works displayed at Palazzo Ferro Fini will inspire the competition, allowing participants to experience them firsthand before submitting their compositions by 12:00 PM on Monday, September 15, 2025. This interdisciplinary initiative explores the connections between visual and musical language, offering fresh perspectives on Potenza’s work and fostering a dialogue on his artistic research’s open and evolving nature. Further details and competition guidelines will be available on the dedicated page of this website.

EXHIBITION INFORMATION
Palazzo Ferro Fini
Headquarters of the Regional Council of Veneto
San Marco 2322, 30124 Venice

May 14 – October 17, 2025
Monday to Friday, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Closed: August 11 – 14, 2025

Free admission for the entire duration of the exhibition