Divine journey among the meditative atmospheres of HANSHA

EXHIBITION

DIVINE JOURNEY AMONG THE MEDITATIVE ATMOSPHERES OF HANSHA, SUMMER ART EXHIBITION AT AMANZOE

Contemporary art from KALPA breathes into the timeless resort setting of Amanzoe in the Peloponnese region of Greece. Until October 2024, the exhibition HANSHA presents a dialogue between the Botanica Vitrea collection in Venetian glass by Michela Cattai (Treviso, 1965) and The Bronze Paintings series by Pierre Bonnefille (Saint-Quentin, 1958).

Designed as an art experience embracing three settings at Amanzoe - the Restaurant and the Library in the main resort, and the Rotunda Pavilion at the Beach Club, the exhibition brings a unique value of art to this temple of hospitality. The title comes from the Japanese term hansha meaning reflection. It encompasses a broad semantic area, from the physical phenomenon of the ephemeral reflection of light to a state of inner contemplation and meditation. The underlying conceptual narrative is strictly connected to the techniques used by both the artists as well as the translucent texture of their artworks. Gold, umber and ochre are the prevalent colours, conventionally associated with divine and spiritual enlightenment.

Absorbing and reflecting the warm sunlight that embraces Amanzoe, a peaceful hilltop sanctuary on the Peloponnese Peninsula, the exhibited sculptures and paintings echo multiple visions of the natural surroundings and architectural landscape.

Presenting eleven refined glass sculptures, HANSHA provides a comprehensive overview of Cattai’s Botanica Vitrea collection. The natural biodiversity of the Venetian lagoon, comprising a multitude of animal and vegetal species that create a harmonious melody of sounds, colours, and motions, represents both the essence and main source of inspiration for this delicate corpus of work.

Each series within the collection, namely Corolla, Bocciolo, Botanica Adriatica and Libellula, is a unique testament to the intricate and unpredictable rhythms of Nature, its vibrant textures, dynamic variations and moods. Crafted with meticulous attention in the Murano glass furnaces, each piece is unrepeatable and embodies the empathetic dialogue between the artist’s vision and the master glassmaker’s hand. The traditional form of the vessels, cast in amber and golden tones, evokes an element of continuity between the ancient tradition of pottery and these contemporary sculptures.

“Creating art, this is the magical moment when we can give shape to our thoughts, repeat the history of millennia with a gesture and direct the act to originate a form of luminous plasticity.”

HANSHA's itinerary structures five iconic large-scale works by Bonnefille as part of the long-term series The Bronze Paintings, initiated in 2015. Taking inspiration from the unceasing motion of waves and the shimmering reflection of the Moon on water, the French artist transposes memories of waterscapes upon his pictorial work. Alongside the tribute to this natural phenomenon's key role in Japanese art and society, Bonnefille’s vision is nourished by a vast system of art references including the XX-century Western abstract movements, ukiyo-e style and traditional Chinese ink landscape paintings.

In the process of The Bronze Paintings, the artist uses a specially created bronze powder in addition to silver and gold foils, which he liquifies to form a very personal impasto. The materiality of the bronze offers to the viewer fluctuating reflections and finds itself just as suspended in a metallic mesh in vibration, evoking the warm ambiance of Amanzoe.

“While water itself represents divine generosity, a purifier of the soul and a personification of healing and change, the Bronze Paintings invite the viewer to enter a state of meditation and self-consciousness and to immerse themselves into the artist’s poetic environment.”

The Hellenistic-inspired architecture of the site embodies the sacred dimension of Greek mythology in an eternal space. With HANSHA, this contemporary acropolis finds its pantheon of artworks that recall the heritage of the Adriatic and the Aegean seas, with the Mediterranean as their common root. Viewers are invited to immerse themselves in a stream of connections and suggestions, from the mystical atmospheres of the land to the marine world, and enter a state of meditation and fluidity, facilitating a sense of renewal and regeneration.

"Sacred spaces and places became so because of their beauty. The deities manifest in beautiful places as an expression of a high and valuable power."