FIERE | Andy Trema

Sottogiudecca, the space entirely dedicated to contemporary art in Reggio Calabria, on Saturday 20 July at 7 p.m., presents a preview of Andy Trema's solo exhibition entitled ‘Fiere’, curated by Marta Toma and Giulia Toma.

Andy Trema, an eclectic artist from Salento who has lived in Rome for many years, arrives for the first time in Calabria with an unprecedented exhibition project that exalts the versatility and strength of character of women, bringing to light their connections with the animal world.

‘Fiere’ is introduced by a work cloaked in mystery and magic (Le foglie del Male, 2023), which extrinsicises the bicephalism of the female soul through a panic fusion with Nature. Beyond the threshold, abnormal zoomorphic figures (Focus series, 2023) watch over a cycle of works on paper, inspired by the symbolism of tarot cards and ancient medieval bestiaries. Walking through this intricate thicket of resting Fairs, bestial bodies and women's heads intertwine in daring tantric poses, releasing a mystical, primordial energy. Deformity is here a shamanic gift: the faculty of embodying a spiritual power, taking on the features and virtues of one's own guide animal. Limbs become paws, hooves, claws. Proud and seraphic, these docile beasts have dry, solemn female faces. Not jaws, but sweet lips and small, sharp eyes, carved like slits. They are women-chemists, wise and elusive, guardians of the occult and universal charm of the mother goddess.

This archetype, steeped in pagan reminiscences and mythological figures typical of all ancient civilisations, flourishes again during Humanism in a fantastic imagery populated by fauns, centaurs and other hybrid creatures, in which the ferocity of Dante's three beasts coexists with the ideal of Petrarch's ‘beautiful and meek fera’. An ambiguity perfectly ‘personified’ by the she-wolf (Lupe di Venere, 2024), innately ruthless, but intimately moved by a maternal instinct that transcends species barriers.

The concept of ‘caring’ as a mission - culturally associated with the female gender - is transfigured into a gesture of affection and dedication, tenderly handed down from generation to generation (Braids of Resistance, 2024). A moment of shared rituality, which finds space in the poetic installation specially conceived for the project room: a candid constellation of eyes from which tears flow to be woven, in an emotional participatory performance (texts by Marta Toma).

The exhibition will be open from 20 July to 31 August 2024 on Mondays from 4.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. and from Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 4.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. Free entrance.