THE POOL NYC is proud to present Aquila, a solo exhibition by Stefano Cerio with a special guest: Giuseppe Stampone, from Abruzzo.

The exhibition is a tribute to Abruzzo and the areas hit by the terrible earthquake in 2009.

Stefano Cerio has installed an inflatable house in a poetic attempt to create a fictitious reconstruction of the area.                                     

The artist has already portrayed places such as water parks, ships cruise, or luna parks that, as for the inflatable house, are supposed to be icons/models of entertainment. These places have been photographed when closed, without people, and are brilliant portraits of an absence. It’s the missing people that makes these places even more surreal. 

In the Aquila series there is an evolution: it is no longer the place to be surreal, yet the final effect obtained by placing an inflatable house in a context where it does not belong.

Photography is used to document an installation, a performance. The natural spot takes on a different meaning, with the temporary inflatable house that suddenly becomes almost metaphysical object. The inflatable house is, by nature, anti-seismic, and Cerio’s gesture can be considered an act of faith. In fact, a good portion of the region affected by the drama, has not been completely reconstructed. With this project the artist aspires to rebuild it ideally.               

The inflation of the house has been documented by a video, which becomes a proper performance. The whole process of inflation and deflation, a metaphor of birth and collapse, is an attempt to represent a sort of new life in a territory where it is not anymore.

Stefano Cerio focuses on natural landscapes, without constructions, where there was no loss at all. In Campo Imperatore, near L’Aquila, nothing, but bare ground, could collapse.

The very deep intent of the artist is to create a new town in the middle of nowhere, giving hope to the people thanks to the playful objects spread around.                                                        

Cerio is releasing a work with a social logic, but without any rhetoric because “Rhetoric is the absolute enemy of contemporary art”.

The exhibition also features a native artist from Abruzzo, to whom the theme is very dear: Giuseppe Stampone. He wanted to pay a tribute to their region with some significant works that would complete the project conceived by Cerio.