Serj on show near bergamo: Few Useful Rites Can Save Us

Strongly evocative and symbolic, the solo exhibition by the artist Serj dialogues with the frescoed (and fortified) rooms of Palazzo Oldofredi Tadini Botti in Torre Pallavicina (BG)

Until August 17th , the rooms of Palazzo Oldofredi Tadini Botti in Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo) host Pochi Riti Utili Salvano (Few Useful Rites Save), personal exhibition of artist Serj, edited by Roberto Lacarbonara.

With a series of unpublished installation environments, conceived in close relationship with the architecture and frescoes of the fifteenth-century palace and the coeval Church of San Rocco, Serj defines a symbolic-ritual structure capable of translating concrete physical space into a complex, empirical and immersive system.

The artistic occupation of the Palace

Starting from the investigation into the history and function of the building , designed as a strategic fortified point close to the Oglio, the border line with the Serenissima and the scene of countless clashes for the definition of territorial boundaries in the Sforza era, and long used for bucolic parties and hunting parties, Serj rethinks the exploration of the place as the development of a occupation strategy - military? hunting? - which sees the observer moving among the rooms in a path of progressive control and knowledge.

The history of Palazzo Oldofredi Tadini Botti

Already in the second part of the 15th century, Palazzo Oldofredi Tadini Botti was the secret summer residence of the Sforza. Of particular interest are the rooms on the noble floor with grotesque walls, an interesting pictorial cycle dedicated to the fable of Cupid and the 'military room' with landscapes and settlements. Also of great importance is the loggia, frescoed with figures referring to Busseto, the Calciana and Castel Sant’Angelo. At the end of the sixteenth century, the Oldofredi of Iseo acquired the palace from which they governed by controlling the duties on the ports, the river fords and the salt trade.

The symbolic strengthening of the rite

In the following rooms, where the grotesques and the Raphaelesque-inspired pictorial cycle, dedicated to the myth of Apuleius on Cupid and Psyche, alternate with the frescoes of landscapes and military settlements designed to orient themselves in the territory, Serj affixes a sign, a large scepter-banner, precious and sinister in its grandeur, acted out through an evocative performance, intended as a symbolic re-enactment and enhancement of the rite.