Words take on a meaning opposite to what you really want to mean

The itinerary, exhibited until January 14, 2022, represents the methods of artistic research with which Reactions. Ironic Antidotes investigates the crises of our time, from micro scenarios of daily intimacy to macro problems socio-cultural.

As the curatorial collective states in its manifesto “the irony, in literature, is a rhetorical procedure in which words take on a meaning opposite to that that you really want to understand. This type of attitude offers, through art, one of the possible antidotes against an era that requires not only the individual, but the whole community to accept the sense of abandonment of their freedoms and their own ideals”.

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What is irony?

Irony is a method to displace, to ignite the soul of those who are persuaded that they know everything when instead everything is still to be known. By carrying out a maieutic process, he assumes a controversial attitude in order to lead his interlocutor to reflect through potentially uncomfortable questions.

Reacting with irony is sabotaging the obvious of language by saying things without being discovered, without ever fully revealing oneself. It can therefore become a useful disguise, a cloak of invisibility, a filter that, however, leaves the essentials well exposed.

Why talk about reactions?

The reaction is acting in response to another action and/or in the opposite direction to it. This sense 'contrary' has affinities with the concept of irony understood in terms of dissimulation and simulation, although inevitably as a rhetorical tool it can be declined (often misrepresented) into superficial lightness, but it is no less important for this.

A linguistic short circuit that leads to reflection passing through laughter

Defined by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as “the passion that is released in detachment”, irony has often been favored by storytellers, poets and playwrights to overturn the logical thread of a speech or story by inserting a linguistic short circuit that leads to reflection, passing through laughter. The irony is the means by which the jester or clown pretends to be what they are not in order to bring bitter truth to the surface.

Irony as an antidote

Thought, feeling in a cage, seeks the possibility of manifesting itself in the harsh game of sarcasm. The resulting scenario is a web of voices, which sometimes whisper and still others scream their own stories. Irony is therefore the blade of choice for the new generations.

The irony – criticism and reaction – in the works on display

In the exhibition Reactions. Ironic antidotes, the critique of the cultural system is carried out by Marzia Migliora who engraves unhappy phrases pronounced by politicians on ceramic plates and bowls, Daniele Sigalot who in his giant post-it makes fun of the world of ' art, Mattia Pajè who with his video work addresses an unexpected target, Jonathan Vivacqua who with his mosaic reflects on the usefulness of the work and Alessandro Calizza which links contemporaneity to classic art.

The intimate dimension is explored by the tapestries of Ruben Montini whose elegance is disturbed by the presence of the insults that the LGBTQ + community is forced to suffer. The ' the work of Luca Grimaldi brings to light the drama of ' impotence, the pendulum of  Vedovamazzei confronts us with the inevitability of time and vain waiting, perfettipietro tries to manipulate time by teleporting elsewhere and finally the work of Alterazioni Video he tackles some immigration issues with extreme irony.