Saturday, May 21 in Varese, at the Baptistery of Velate, an art installation by the Milanese Claudio Onorato, curated by Carla Tocchetti, entitled "Sconfinamenti". An alternation of vertical works of great format, placed in contemporary dialogue with the architecture of the small seventeenth-century oratory at the foot of Sacro Monte, will involve the public on the themes of a confrontation on "other". 

The impact on our lives of recent international events, the suffering of isolation experienced at the beginning of the pandemic, the anxiety of the limit in the daily media bombardment, are just a few indicators of how the time in which we live poses important questions to all, to which the most committed artists try to answer. The elements that make up the site-specific installation in Velate tell of the tragedy of war, of biblical exodus and migratory flows, the eternal drama of life and death, but also the final of a football match, the intrigues in the dungeons of the palaces of politics, the dark death of a fixer, the desire for peace that we all want. Onorato proposes them in his own way, with a very personal artistic language, which consists in the engraving and emptying of the most diverse materials (not only paper, but also iron, aluminum steel, wood), to conquer a greater evocativeness and significance, always diluting and lightening the tension through the filter of irony.

To underline the importance of the look, on Saturday evening after closing time the installation will be illuminated per day, allowing the public to observe the installation from the outside, through the wrought iron gratings of the ancient windows set in the entrance portal.

Program

The installation will be accompanied by artistic events dedicated to trespassing in various expressive fields. In the first month the calendar includes:

• Saturday 21 May, at 15.30 vernissage in the Baptistery of Velate in the presence of the artist
• Saturday 21 May, at 18.00 in San Cassiano di Velate, in collaboration with the association "Omaggio al Clavicembalo", "Amor ch'a nullo amato": concert with arias by Haendel and Strozzi, Bach, performed by Bruna Panella al Cembalo, Andrea Florit on flute, Francesca del Grosso on violin and Issei Watanabe on cello, performing the mezzo-soprano Nausicaa Nisati (free admission subject to availability).
• Thursday June 16, at 21 inside the installation at the Baptistery of Velate will be held a valuable musical event at night, as part of the review "The Music of the Angels": the duo Courante composed by Lidia Giussani recorder and Rephael Negri violin will perform "Sconfinamenti tra danza e canone inverso" music of ancient and contemporary repertoire (Mozart, Bach, Bàrtok, Lupacchino, di Lasso, Asola, Falloni, Ligeti); the event has very limited places with reservation through EventBrite, is free admission and participates in the fundraising for the restoration project of the Baptistery.
• The second calendar month of programming will be released later.

Info and schedules

The exhibition at the Baptistery of Velate will be visible for eight weeks, until Saturday, July 16, with guaranteed hours on Saturday from 15 to 18 and Sunday from 11 to 13 and from 15 to 18. Also visits are always possible on Saturday morning and for groups and midweek writing to battisterodivelate@gmail.com .