Installation view – TEMPO PERSO at Tempesta Gallery, Milano

Ph Roberto Conte

Installation view – TEMPO PERSO at Tempesta Gallery, Milano

Ph Roberto Conte

Installation view – TEMPO PERSO at Tempesta Gallery, Milano

Ph Roberto Conte

Installation view – TEMPO PERSO at Tempesta Gallery, Milano

Ph Roberto Conte

“Dominatio Memoriae”, 2023, 220 x 220cm, Textile and Glass, Gonzalo Borondo

ph Roberto Conte

“Ancora” from 1 to 8, 2023, 80 x 80cm, Lightbox, Gonzalo Borondo

Ph Roberto Conte

Detail, Lightbox, Gonzalo Borondo

Ph Roberto Conte

“Self-portrait”, 12 engraved polyester plates, Gonzalo Borondo

Ph Roberto Conte

TEMPESTA GALLERY presents:
“TEMPO PERSO”
a site-specific project by
GONZALO BORONDO

Tempesta Gallery is pleased to present the upcoming contemporary art project “Tempo Perso,” a unique site-specific installation curated by artist Gonzalo Borondo that transforms the space at Foro Buonaparte 68 and alters the perspective of visitors.

The exhibition explores the polysemic concept of “loosing time,” inviting us to reflect on leisure, the contemplation of free time, and, above all, liberation from the past. Borondo addresses the themes of damnatio memoriae and iconoclasm, showcasing the fierce beauty that can emerge from destruction. The exhibited works encourage the audience to reflect on political and religious motifs, imagining a different relationship with tradition and the future.

“Tempo Perso” is not just an art exhibition but a project conceived and designed for Tempesta Gallery, aiming to transform the exhibition space into a new soul, engaging visitors to explore new perspectives on the past, present, and future.

“Through the body of work I have chosen for the ‘Tempo Perso’ exhibition, I seek to challenge the traditional concept of monuments and explore the contradictions and challenges of contemporary iconoclasm. The demolition of statues and monuments represents an evolving historical narrative, a reflection on the mutability of values and models in modern society. The exhibition invites viewers to question the meaning of monuments, their validity, and the need to reconsider the past in a broader context. Through the re-signification and reinterpretation of materials and artistic concepts, I aim to open a critical dialogue about history, memory, and our relationship with our time, exploring new ways of living together and building collective identities.” – Gonzalo Borondo

The complex relationship between art and memory, or between works and their symbolic value, confronts history, leading to a reflection on the conflicting nature of time and, simultaneously, the futile aspiration to eternity. Termed an ethical-political critique of the present itself, Borondo demolishes monuments, condemned to perish, and witnesses the ascent of those about to occupy the temporary void, a pedestal that will soon be inhabited once again.

These events are represented in a collective memory that needs reconstruction, and the artist uses layering, a series of networks, as a formal resource to stage the depth of the events. The culmination of this practice materializes in the monumental installation at the center of the space, designed with lightweight materials to allow reflections and shadows to draw an ethereal environment that engages the audience in a unique sensory experience.

Each area enhances the power and presence of the image as a path to reach a transcendental reality. Time is then erased, replaced by a timeless limbo of images, where events belong to a discourse beyond the stories created in a logic of causes and effects. It is precisely a “Tempo Perso” that invites us to contemplation and, above all, to overcome the past. The monument was nothing more than a pretext to speak not only about the persistence of the past in the present but also about the poetry that can exist amid the chaos of panoramas that remain within the network of overlapping layers.

The large nets are the elements that initially attract the visitor’s attention, although only later do other images appear, the true icons, where pedestals become altars to what could one day become our “history.” This layered arrangement renders a frontal and static gaze ineffective; only in movement, and after completing each path, do the works transition from confusion to clarity, overcoming the violence and discomfort imposed at first.

Integral to the atmosphere of the exhibition are also the lighting and sound design specially created by Francesco Venturino for each of the exhibition spaces. These correspondences accompany the viewer’s journey, creating two main effects: the first, a strong chromatic contrast between black and white, which predominates in the pictorial work, and the warm lights that bathe the rooms; the second, the intensity gradation of the light that fades into darkness, an effect reinforced by the changing soundtrack from room to room, contributing to creating a suggestive and engaging atmosphere.

“The polysemic concept of ‘loosing time’ that Borondo explores invites us to reflect not only on the ephemeral nature of time but also on our relationship with the past and the future. The exhibition offers a profound sensory experience, combining painting and sculpture with music and lighting in an immersive way. At a time when art can serve as a bridge between cultures and people, we are proud to support and exhibit projects like ‘Lost Time’ that encourage reflection, understanding, and innovation. The gallery will always remain a place open to creative expression and innovative ideas, so we are delighted to share this experience with the Milanese and international public.” – Enrico Angelino and Elisa Bonzano, Tempesta Gallery.

“Tempo Perso” is a cry that emerges from the ruins of history and the circularity of vain fame. Borondo challenges the concept of the traditional monument, creating a work subject to activations and deactivations of its meaning, an illusory antidote against oblivion.

The exhibition will be open to the public from December 1 to March 1, 2024, at Tempesta Gallery – Foro Buonaparte 68, Milan.

TEMPESTA GALLERY
Foro Buonaparte 68

Press Preview: Thursday, November 30, from 5:00 PM

December 1 – March 1, 2024
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM / 2:30 PM – 6:30 PM

Tempesta Gallery was founded in 2020, a year marked by a potential change that stimulated our desire to initiate an open and direct dialogue on the relationships between humans, nature, and various socio-cultural ecosystems. Aware that urgent and unavoidable issues, such as the Anthropocene and gender, require thoughtful consideration, we are dedicated to exploring these questions with a particular focus on the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

The gallery’s vision, outlined by Elisa Bonzano and Enrico Angelino, determinedly transcends the traditional boundaries of the exhibition realm to create a multifunctional and dynamic space. Storm Art Gallery aims to be a place to illustrate the dialogue with contemporary artists, both from Italy and abroad, and with the city of Milan itself.

By presenting an exhibition program that provides a platform for artists addressing themes of great social and environmental relevance through various artistic means, such as painting, sculpture, photography, and installation, we intend to stimulate critical reflection on the dynamics influencing our society and planet.

At the same time, Tempesta Art Gallery is a place open to the community, where cultural events, conferences, and workshops take place, creating an inclusive environment that fosters dialogue and the sharing of ideas, promoting a stimulating exchange between artists, scholars, and the public. Hoping that our commitment to promoting understanding and awareness of the crucial issues surrounding us can contribute to positive change in our world.

Gonzalo Borondo (Valladolid, ES, 1989) is a multimedia artist who lives and works between Spain and Italy. His research revolves around the value of memory and tradition, the sense of places, and artistic and immaterial heritage. Borondo looks at traditional iconographies and the visual culture of the past as symbols to be updated, conceiving history as a continuum within which to develop other visions of contemporaneity. Acting in a site-specific perspective, the artist engages with the roots of the context in which he operates, making common imagery, the “sacred,” and the “popular” elements of recognition to establish direct contact with the viewer.

Borondo’s large-scale installations thus create physical and experiential environments for a new perception of collective heritage.

Since 2010, the artist has carried out pictorial interventions in public spaces, working within the context of international commissions and street art festivals (from England, Italy, and Spain to Australia, India, Ukraine, and the USA). Notable within a substantial body of work is the series of 32 billboards titled Insurrecta (Segovia, ES, 2019).

In recent years, Borondo’s production has expanded to other types of places, combining ancient techniques (such as engraving, screen printing, photographic emulsion) with new media and materials. Notable examples include the installations Cenere (Cemetery Chapel, Selci, IT, 2017, winner of the Arte Laguna Prize 2018), as well as Hierarchies (Urban Nation Museum, Berlin, DE, 2017) and N̶o̶n Plus Ultra (MACRO, Rome, IT, 2018), developed within museum contexts. Regarding places of worship, mention should also be made of the environmental works Merci (Temple de Chartrons, Bordeaux, FR, 2019, now in the collection of the CAPC – Museum of Contemporary Art of Bordeaux) and Seventh Day (Former church of San Mattia, Bologna, IT, 2023).

Borondo collaborates with institutions, festivals, museums, galleries, and non-profit spaces globally, participating in numerous projects and group exhibitions. Among the solo exhibitions, particularly noteworthy is Hereditas, curated by Jose Maria Parreño (Museum of Contemporary Art Esteban Vicente, Segovia, ES, 2021). Since 2023, he has been an official member of the Academy of History and Art of San Quirce.