The Art of the Dragon, Two Exhibitions in Florence and Rome

(by Francesca Chiri) A dialogue between ancient civilizations, a bridge that unites East and West, past and present. There is a common thread that sews together two exhibitions that bring together Italy China's fascination with our culture. In Florence, on the occasion of the initiatives celebrating the 550th anniversary years after the birth of Michelangelo, the artist arrives Franco-Chinese Wang Yancheng, with an exhibition that pays homage and reinterprets the essence of the works of the Renaissance genius and that will be exhibited at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence. In Rome there will be 31 Chinese artists, linked in various ways at the Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai, to dialogue with the works of great Italian artists of the 20th century kept at the Gallery National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art: from Balla to Boccioni, from Modigliani, Carrà, de Chirico, Morandi, Burri, Fontana, Kounellis, Schifano to which the works of some have been added very well-known artists such as Cattelan and Stingel, Beecroft or emerging artists (Daniela De Lorenzo, Alessandro Piangiamore, Emanuele Becheri, Davide Rivalta). "These are two exhibitions characterised by the great admiration that famous contemporary Chinese artists, and all Chinese culture, nourish towards Italian art. And not only towards art Renaissance, a fascination which is obviously more obvious, but also towards more recent Italian artists and works, too often underestimated by ourselves" the curator of the two told ANSA exhibitions, Gabriele Simongini. At Gnam, in fact, "we show how even the Italian twentieth century, contrary to what one might think, achieves great success and admiration in China. For this reason we put 31 Chinese artists who trained in dialogue Shanghai with some Italian artists particularly studied in China" explains the curator, fresh from the success obtained by the exhibition on Futurism set up this winter at the Galleria Valle Giulia National Academy directed by Cristina Mazzantini. Even the fascination for Michelangelo does not translate obviously in a mere operation of "quotationism", warns the art critic. "Even though Yancheng's works will be exhibited at the Accademia Gallery, where the David is exhibited, the most famous sculpture of the Renaissance genius, his works are completely abstract. What he does is capture the energy spiritual that flows from the works of Michelangelo and which is translates into the ideas of absolute and infinite. In short, it is a question of all round of a tribute and not a quote" says Simongini which explains the relationship that the artist weaves between volume and surface given by the "ideal and darting trajectories that connect different areas of the work in a surprising variation and reinvention of the golden section and perspective axes Renaissance". The 18 paintings of Yancheng, some of which are of very large size dimensions, built between 2018 and 2025 and three of which created for the Florence exhibition, will be on display from the 24th June to September 21 at the Accademia Gallery in Florence, currently directed by Massimo Osanna, general director of Museums of the Ministry of Culture, with the title "Light energy infinite". "East and West" at Gnam will be on display from July 15th to September 21st. The exhibition coincides with the 55th anniversary of the beginning of diplomatic relations between Italy and China: a demonstration of how much art is for the Dragon "privileged path of cultural diplomacy at the highest level with those countries that reciprocate the principle of dialogue and of hospitality".