The expression Palmo Panorama immediately suggests a double image, which starting from the palm of the hand expands into the breadth of a panorama. It is a “strange title”, at least at first, to use Saverio Verini’s words, curator of Marco Emmanuele’s solo exhibition at LABS Contemporary Art in Bologna.
Marco Emmanuele, installation view, 2025, ph. Manuel Montesano, courtesy of LABS Contemporary Art
By juxtaposing these two scales, the artist has created a conceptual tension between the micro and the macro cosmos, worlds that appear distant but, upon closer inspection, are not so far apart, as the laws of nature remind us. This double scale becomes the key through which the entire exhibition can be interpreted. The works on display are distributed between the walls and the floor, forming a spatial device where their dialogue activates a narrative capable of immediately transporting the viewer into the artist’s universe. Here it’s easy to let the gaze wander, and it gets lost in retracing an ideal path.
Marco Emmanuele, “ISO #250”, 2025, polvere di vetro, sabbia e colla di coniglio su tela, cm 750 x 215, installation view, ph. Manuel Montesano, courtesy of LABS Contemporary Art
What immediately catches the eye is ISO #250, a canvas measuring 750 × 215 cm, whose grainy surface consists of crushed glass and sand. On it, the first landscape emerges, shaped through forms and elements which, while maintaining their autonomy, mix and intersect until they touch the shores of a hypothetical sea. Directly facing the large painting, there are aluminum sculptures created specifically for the occasion. The series always begins with the same first part of the title: Ruscente, followed by the name of a particular poet, including Dario Bellezza, Giorgio Caproni, Jolanda Insana, Lucio Piccolo and Valentino Zeichen. From these authors, whose selected poems can be found in the exhibition wall text, the artist borrowed the profile of the faces, first creating iron plates and then dragging them across the sand. On the resulting imprint, Emmanuele poured melted metal, forever immobilizing a portion of the beach, which he translated into works with such a gestural style. The more playful aspect is suggested by the glass marbles beneath them, the game that allows children to leave traces on the sand grains, inspired the artist.
Marco Emmanuele, “Ruscente Caproni”, 2025, alluminio e vetro, cm 126 x 12 x 30, ph. Eleonora Cerri Pecorella, courtesy of LABS Contemporary Art
On the opposite wall one can find the drawing that gives the exhibition its title, namely Palmo Panorama. Made with graphite, this work, through an analysis of the palm of the hand, allows the visitor to find a way to slide from the previously expressed sizes into detail, and the secrets that lie behind it, leading the viewer to the final piece: Occhio di bimbo viperino, which perhaps serves as a gateway to the whole exhibition. This work was made by casting a walnut shell in bronze, inside which once again there’s a marble evoking the shape of an eye.
Marco Emmanuele, “Ruscente Insana”, 2025, alluminio e vetro, cm 94 x 11 x 28, ph. Eleonora Cerri Pecorella, courtesy of LABS Contemporary Art
Upon entering the room, one immediately notices how these works blend together, and how from their intertwining another landscape emerges, its horizon is defined within the viewer’s mental space. In this environment, the details stand out, including the material power of the shattered glass on the canvas in contrast with the smooth, homogeneous texture of the marbles scattered throughout the room. But above all, the possibility to listen, through visual echoes, the whispers of a narrative that lends such depth to the visit. Everything, including the palettes dominated by cool tones, contributes to Marco Emmanuele’s descriptions, fully evoking the bittersweet feeling of an autumn beach.
Sofia Sabaini
Info:
Marco Emmanuele – Palmo Panorama
Text by Saverio Verini
15/11/2025 – 10/01/2026
LABS Contemporary Art
Via Santo Stefano, 38, Bologna
www.labsgallery.it
is a contemporary art magazine since 1980
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