From 14 May to 29 October 2000 The shade of reason. The idea of the sacred in European identity Bologna: Gallery of Modern Art

Danilo Eccher,the director of the exhibition, suggests (in order to understand completely the aim of the exhibition) to look at the subtitle – The idea of the sacred in European identity. All the works shown in fact contribute to define the idea of the sacred (not always in a religious sense) in the history of the european art of the Twentieth Century. The purpose is to present a short journey through some of the itineraries of european art.
The shade of reason and the rationality itself dim the perception of tha sacred. The intensity of this research is perfecltly showed by Giorgio Morandi still lives, by De Chirico metaphysical atmospheres and by Klein sculptures.
Near to these works, looking high, is possible to observe «La canoa che gira» by Gilberto Zorio, a mechanical work which is probably the only false note of the exhibition.
Many of the works shown are related to the difficult relation between the man and the sacred, as “Melankoli.Laura” (Munch), “allèen” (Sevportret), “Man in blue” (Bacon) and e “Lasst tausend Blumen Bluhen” (Kieffer).

Duchamp makes sacred common objects – the «ready made» – joking at false myth which man follows.
The works “Congregation” (Cragg) and “Tavolo-La frutta siamo noi” (Merz) are very interesting for their simplicity.
The only works made by yong artists are the ones by Alessandra Tesi and Sara Ciracì.
The exhibition is pleasant and the heterogeneity of the artists can satisfy the public, even if sometimes this heterogeneity can lead to a bit of confusion.
The exhibition has two different seats: the Gallery of Modern Art (GAM) and Villa delle Rose.
The only advice we can give to Danilo Eccher is that the exhibition could have been more courageous, for example showing a more innovatory programme. In particular, we noticed a lack of photography (the only photos are the Tacita Dean series and four pictures by Gilbert e George).


Enrico Morsiani