Sculptures

Andrea Cagnetti's artistic research draws its origin and strength from the power of memory: that admirable and complex regulatory ability of memory that has always been indissolubly linked to Art. Classical mythology, in fact, recounts the story of Mnemosyne, the personification of Memory, daughter of Uranus (Heaven), and Gaia (Earth), who in loving union with Zeus conceived the nine Muses. These gods were the divine protectors of Poetry and the Arts, and were the usual companions of Apollo. Even for the choice of his pseudonym Cagnetti makes use of myth, since Akelo derives from the name Achelous, which in ancient Greece was both the largest river and the most important river god. Achelous, according to the Greeks, was the son of Oceanus and Tethys, and had numerous offspring, including the Sirens, which he would have had with one of the Muses, as well as many river nymphs. These include Callirhoe, nymph of the Castalian spring of Delphi, the nymph of the Pyrenean spring of Corinth, and the nymph of the Dirke spring of Thebes. From a young age, the past has always exerted a strong fascination on the artist. The past represents not only a repertoire of iconographic models or courtly styles to be borrowed as required, but above all it represents an exemplary way of living and working. In this sense, it is emblematic that Akelo has become a sculptor after extensive experience working with gold and gemstones. Just like a Renaissance sculptor, his professional formation was in gold, and once he attained technical mastery, he also became interested in the art of engraving gems and hard stones, which was so beloved of the Romans. Going beyond any nostalgic revisiting of ancient art, and shunning away from facile modern interpretations of traditionalist aesthetic theories, Akelo firmly believes that the forms and the paradigms used in ancient art are of utmost utility to explain, interpret and represent our complex and multifaceted present, without resorting to a hedonistic escapism of times past. Taking these assumptions as his starting point, Akelo is pursuing his search for artistic expression through a continuous range of experiments in form, material and techniques, both as a goldsmith and as a sculptor. This flexible search for expression is tending to develop towards the use of figures, but his sculpture is free from the limitations of statue pieces. Released from the yoke of working with a solid mass, Akelo's sculptures can develop dynamically. These are forms that are permeated by light and air, in dialectic and osmotic relationships with the space that contains them. Empty space is the source of their forms (the foundation of contemporary sculpture, in the judgement of Arturo Martini). In these works, the artist succeeds in evoking the severitas typical of ancient taste – (who, when looking at them, did not think of the gods and heroes carved on Greek pediments?) – through a process of constructing form that is typical of today, as it recalls certain computer programs used to define three-dimensional elements. Just as a combinatorial algorithm is able to generate complex structures from simple shapes, so Akelo creates his works using basic modular elements: he divides metal tubes (of various shapes) into segments, then solders pieces together, sometimes expressing something abstract in a concrete form in thanks to the use of colour. This brings to mind the concept of Entelechy, or monad in Leibniz's thinking, according to which reality is made up of "centers of strength", metaphysical or intangible points or atoms, "simple substances", called monads, or entelechies which indicate their inherent perfection. Akelo, following the example of the philosopher from Leipzig, believes that the constituent elements of everything, and therefore of all matter, are manifestations of a simple monad (and not only this) or aggregate of monads. Therefore, if we could understand the essence of a monad, we could understand the whole universe, and thereby arrive at Anima Mundi. The sculptures of Akelo, both anthropomorphic and those depicting "cosmic" gears, remind us that we are made of the same substance as dreams and stars. FRANCESCO SANTANIELLO
Art historian and Curator