Shibari at The RestelliArtco Gallery
Shibari at the RestelliaArtco Gallery: this art will make a statement through the exhibition of the photographic project by Umberto Stefanelli, Photogeisha. From 26 to 31 October, among the events hosted within the RestelliArtco Gallery, and the occasion of the Rome Art Week, the photographic exhibition Photogeisha, by Umberto Stefanelli, will display. It is entirely dedicated to Shibari. Stefanelli grew, artistically, in New York. Now, after having exhibited in the most important museums and foundations in the world, he returns to Rome. He will present an unusual and original photographic project. His project was born almost by chance during one night in a small club in Minami and a love hotel in Osaka.
Shibari at The RestelliArtco Gallery: Photogeisha
Photogeisha contains 20 images about shibari, a culture with ancient origins. Stefanelly documented it from an unusual angle (in comparison to the ideas that normally accompany this discipline). Moreover, the images tell of art in which the viewer becomes a participant. As a consequence, the spectator shares the living sculpture and meditative practice. This, through the flexibility of the body and mind, becomes an expression of power and exchange. We see a mixture of body and spirit in which the rope is a means. And in which the path counts more than the final destination.
Additionally, in the shots, the audience witnesses figures tied to a rope hovering in the void. Even more so: they reveal perfectly coordinated movements that remain in balance. An intertwining of bodies and hemp, created through the use of knots, the images follow geometric shapes. In turn, this combination recalls another ancient Japanese art: ikebana. This art has always meant sensuality, vulnerability, and strength as fundamental elements of floral composition. Stefanelli shows us all the charm of a centuries-old tradition in the balance between the martial art of hojojutsu and the “painting of spring” (shunga), inspired by the most famous style of the “floating world,” ukiyo-e.
All the Details
Shibari at the RestelliArtco Gallery is a breath of fresh air. Photogeisha is of the flagship projects that the RestelliArtco Gallery will host. You can find it Via Vittoria Colonna 9, in Rome. Its location is within Up to the Borders of the World, a structured exhibition by the gallery owners Raffaella Rossi and Filippo Restelli. These four very original and unpublished itineraries convey both the planet and man, and his failures and contradictions. Up to the Borders of the World presents on the occasion of Rome Art Week, the most important Capitoline exhibition of contemporary art. It will hold from 26 to 31 October, but the exhibition itself will continue to be open to visitors in the Gallery throughout 2020.
