Until January 31, 2025, visitors can experience Even When I’m Not Here, Chiara Ventura‘s solo exhibition curated by Lorenzo Rubini at THEPÒSITO Art Space in Narni. Part of the “RIGENERARSI” event organized by the Municipality of Narni, the exhibition delves deeply into the dynamics of interpersonal relationships, language, and emotional expression, focusing on moments of incommunicability, voids, and silences that characterize daily life.
At the heart of the exhibition is the artwork Quello che provo a dirti (2023), a digital image printed on coated paper and sealed in a vacuum bag. This physical intervention creates a symbolic distance between the viewer and the image, representing the space that separates what we wish to express from what we actually manage to say. The water in the photograph, a symbol of flow and connection, becomes unrecognizable due to editing that distorts its form, evoking blocked, filtered, and fragmented communication.
Another key piece is the performance A mare (2023), presented as a video projection. Here, the movement of waves becomes a metaphor for the shared emotional flow between bodies, representing a dynamic of intimacy and exchange. The clothing worn during this performance, collected in the work A mare te (2023), serves as a silent witness to the emotions experienced, highlighting the connection between materiality, memory, and emotion.
The artwork that lends its name to the exhibition, Even When I’m Not Here (2024), features a photograph of the artist’s partner lying on a bed, encased in an empty hydration pouch. Typically used to contain vital fluids, the pouch symbolizes physical absence, while the blankets in the photograph form a wave that evokes an inner sea and a shared emotional flow. On the surface of the pouch, the words Even when I’m not here suggest the persistence of emotional presence despite physical absence, inviting the viewer to reflect on the essence of relationships.
With this exhibition, Chiara Ventura encourages the audience to explore the delicate balance between absence and presence, between what is said and what remains unsaid. In an era that is hyperconnected yet paradoxically fragmented, the artist examines the difficulty of authentic communication, revealing how words can be fragile tools of connection, often unable to fully convey the complexity of human emotions.
Even When I’m Not Here is hosted by THEPÒSITO Art Space, an exhibition venue founded in 2023 by Lorenzo Rubini to promote emerging and mid-career artists with a forward-thinking and experimental curatorial approach.
