(Finance) – From November 21, 2024 to February 22, 2025, 21Gallery of Villorba (Treviso) hosts Soul and Bodya retrospective dedicated to Oliviero Rainaldi and edited by Cesare Biasini Selvaggi. This exhibition represents a return to his origins for the sculptor, in the Veneto region which marked his first steps in art.
Rainaldi was born in 1956 in Caramanico Terme, in Abruzzo and after studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and that of Rome, where he trained under the guidance of great masters, he developed a unique style that combines Italian classicism with a contemporary. His early works are notable for an essential use of lines and volumeswhile in the following years his language evolved towards greater complexity, including references to philosophy, spirituality and mythology. This fusion of influences manifests itself in sculptures, paintings and installations that inspire a profound reflection on the essence of life and the human condition. Rainaldi’s production stands out for the minimalist approach which hides an extraordinary conceptual depth. His projects tend to reduce form to the essential, leaving room for the viewer’s interpretation: this simplicity, only apparent, is the result of an intense philosophical and artistic reflection that guides the artist in the creation of works that question the great themes of existence.
Soul and Body represents one of the most significant moments of the artist’s career: the exhibition, curated by Cesare Biasini Selvaggi, in fact explore the dualism between spiritual and physical dimensions, a central theme in Rainaldi’s production and through an exhibition that embraces various works, it invites the viewer to reflect on how the soul and body interact and influence each other. The exhibition – in detail – includes 36 works, including sculptures, paintings and drawingswhich cover the last thirty years of Rainaldi’s artistic production. Among these, two 1993 tributes to Arturo Martinia master from Treviso whose anti-courtly and anti-classical approach was a source of inspiration for Rainaldi.
Art historian, critic and curator, Biasini Selvaggi is known for his innovative approach and for the ability to create exhibition narratives that deeply connect the public with the works of art. His academic training in art history and his long experience as a curator have allowed him to collaborate with internationally renowned artists, offering a fundamental contribution to valorization of contemporary art. His editor of Soul and Body it therefore reflects a unique harmony between artist and curator, aimed at enhancing every aspect of Rainaldi’s production: thanks to his profound understanding of the artist’s expressive language, the curator was thus able to orchestrate an exhibition that represents an authentic journey into his creative universe.
In his statements, the critic has indeed underlined the importance of offering an immersive experience for viewersin order to transform the exhibition into a journey that becomes personal: “We made this choice to offer the public a unique experience. The aim is to experience the role of the atelier in Oliviero Rainaldi’s artistic creation, to have a special, more personal and emotional relationship with his work which goes through different states of mind, such as loneliness, the drives of sexuality overcome by the purity of the androgynous ideal, and the search for spirituality”.
On the one hand Rainaldi continues to explore the mysteries of the soul and body through his works, on the other Biasini Selvaggi confirms its role as a cultural mediator, capable of making even the most complex artistic expressions accessible and comprehensible: together – connected just like body and soul – they created an experience that goes beyond art, transforming itself into a layered, cavernous and sprawling reflection on existence itself.