Hosted at Miramare Castle, the collective exhibition “Naturae” opens to the public, showcasing works by contemporary Italian and international artists. Curated by Melania Rossi, the project serves as an exploration of the bond between humanity and the surrounding environment. It invites viewers to reflect on new possibilities within this eternal dichotomy through the artists’ perspectives. The exhibition occupies the castle’s stables and park, featuring installations by Mimmo Paladino and Bianco Valente.

Mimmo Paladino, “Zenith 3”, 2022, bronze sculpture, 100 x 435 x 370 cm, courtesy of the artist’s collection © Paladino Mimmo, by SIAE 2024

Miramare Castle was commissioned by Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg between 1856 and 1860 as a family residence. Perched on cliffs overlooking the Gulf of Trieste, the castle offers a breathtaking setting where its white towers rise amid the surrounding parkland. Inside, visitors can admire rooms with original furnishings and Habsburg artworks, including a grand library filled with 19th-century volumes. Among these, the botanical collection stands out, with some books displayed during the “Ars Botanica” exhibition. The castle’s historic park, spanning 22 hectares, is another treasure of the site. It boasts an extensive botanical collection of exotic and local species, carefully curated over time. In harmony with the spirit of the location, the exhibition provides a kaleidoscopic vision of humanity’s relationship with nature: how it is observed, studied or visualized when invisible to the naked eye. The artworks engage with space and time, altering or participating passively in the landscape through human presence.

Macoto Murayama, “Phalaenopsys Maiko Waltz”, 2019, inkjet print, 100 x 120 cm, courtesy Galleria Gaburro, photo credit: Macoto Murayama

The works of Macodo Murayama employ advanced 3D modeling technologies to meticulously reconstruct the structures of various flowers. The resulting pieces offer an ethereal cross-section of flowers, imprinted on canvas from multiple angles. These depictions reveal the elegant, ergonomic forms inherent in plants’ structures. Each piece is named after the represented species, capturing its essence while presenting a modern take on the traditional “study of” approach found in figurative art. Here, microscopes and CGI replace pencil and paintbrush, focusing on aesthetic properties rather than scientific functions.

Marina Abramović, “Stromboli”, 2002, video projection, between 240 × 180 cm or bigger © Marina Abramović, courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives and LI-MA, Amsterdam © Marina Abramović, by SIAE 2024

The stables’ two floors feature rooms designed as individual environments, each embodying the artists’ unique visions. Some works engage in dialogue, such as the pieces by Marina Abramović and Serse Roma. Abramović’s video piece, “Stromboli”, is a fixed-camera recording of the artist lying on the volcanic island’s sand as waves gently lap over her until one finally submerges her, restarting the loop. On the walls, two large graphite drawings titled “A Fior d’Acqua” depict reflections of the sky on the water’s surface. These black-and-white images break away from traditional blue hues, abstracting the scene into what appears to be cosmic sludge or primordial broth. Literary and scientific excerpts punctuate the exhibition, along with poetry. For instance, Rainer Maria Rilke’s lines from “On Landscape and Other Writings” accompany Abramović’s work: «Waters flow, and within them, the images of things tremble and sway. In the wind, which rustles through ancient trees, young forests grow toward a future we shall not see. (…) The landscape is there, devoid of hands, without a face; or it is all face, and its immense vastness terrifies and crushes man».

Serse Roma, “A Fior d’Acqua”, 2024, graphite on paper, 145 x 195 cm, courtesy the Author and Galleria Continua

The traditional notion of a landscape is replaced by Rebecca Horn’s “Bodylandscape” (2007), a 207 x 175 cm acrylic and pencil canvas. Horn’s brushstrokes are dictated by the physical extension of her body, turning the act of drawing into a performative gesture. Similarly, Hermann Nitsch’s “Untitled” (2009) replaces brushstrokes with splashes of paint spread by participants’ footprints. These traces, discernible up close, merge into a singular flow from afar, embodying matter in motion shaped by color contrasts.

Hermann Nitsch, “Untitled”, 2009, mixed media on canvas, 200 × 300 cm, courtesy Galleria Gaburro © Hermann Nitsch, by SIAE 2024

Derived from Latin, “Naturae” encompasses meanings such as nature, essence, birth and physical constitution. The open-ended title may imply “of nature” (possessive) or “to nature” (dative), or serve as a plural nominative, highlighting nature’s multiplicity. The exhibition reflects on diverse perspectives of nature as both an external entity and an inseparable element of humanity, with which humans risk losing touch. The title also evokes Titus Lucretius Carus’s “De Rerum Natura” (On the Nature of Things), a treatise inspired by Epicurean philosophy that examines matter’s physical constitution, order, and form. The exhibition references a fragment of the text: «Indeed, time changes the entire world; in all things, one state must follow another, and nothing remains the same: everything transforms, nature alters all and forces all to change».

Rebecca Horn, “L’air de Vesuvio”, 2007, acrylic and pencil on paper, 207 x 175 cm, courtesy Collezione Gianfranco D’Amato © Rebecca Horn, by SIAE 2024

This visionary work views natural phenomena as intelligible to humans while delving into the physics of matter. Even in modern times, Albert Einstein admired Lucretius for his «ingenuity and artistic ability». While Einstein dismissed the idea of Lucretius as the precursor to modern physics, he credited him for liberating humanity from the fear fostered by religion and superstition, often exploited by priests for their own ends.

Info:

AA. Naturae. Contemporary Art Environments
curated by Melania Rossi as part of the Miramare Contemporary series
6/12/2024 – 9/11/2025
Stables and Park of Miramare Castle
Viale Miramare, Trieste

Enrico Boschi

Born in Bologna, he studies fashion design and multimedia arts at the IUAV in Venice. He believes in the possibility of crossing boundaries between disciplines and that art can have an active role in breaking down inequalities and uniting people by creating communities.