Capo d’Arte, a non-profit organisation which promotes contemporary art and culture in Salento, presents the ninth edition of its summer event in Gagliano del Capo, in the Province of Lecce, Puglia, whose artistic direction is carried out by Fantom’s Massimo Torrigiani. This edition sees the participation of Lorenzo Vitturi, with his new site-specific sculpture Solo lo stupore conosce (Only Amazement Knows), which will be unveiled in the “Villetta”, the public garden in Via Roma, opposite the the town hall, on Saturday, July 28th, at 8:30 pm.

On the same day, at 7 pm, Palazzo Daniele will inaugurate the exhibition Prove e Motivi (Trials and Motives), the result of the first collaboration between acclaimed French artists Éric Baudelaire (b.1972) and David Douard (b.1983), who were hosted in Gagliano del Capo as part of the 2017-18 residencies offered by Villa Medici, an associate of Capo d’Arte since 2016.
Lorenzo Vitturi was invited to conceive a sculpture for a public space in Gagliano del Capo. The work, specifically produced for the town, will be the first of a series which will enrich Gagliano and its landscape with works of art to be installed in squares, streets and gardens.
Solo lo Stupore Conosce (Only Amazement Knows) originates from a pre-existing piece of street furniture, for a long time deprived of any functional value: a simple pole. Located inside the “Villetta” in Via Roma, the rod caught the attention of the artist, whose work is always based on the collection and rearrangement of objects, signs and materials of the places where he works. Vitturi provides these items with new perspectives and new lives, through the juxtaposition of disparate elements – ranging from local craftsmanship to popular traditions, and to everyday objects – by analogy and contrast.
On this occasion, the artist encircled the pole with playful and colourful elements – even a real basketball hoop –, the result of the suggestions gathered together during his journey in Salento, under invitation of Capo d’Arte, but also on the occasion of his recent travels in Perù and in Venice, the artist’s hometown, both cultural references for this project.
Solo lo Stupore Conosce, Vitturi’s first iron sculpture and public work, invites the visitors, especially children and youngsters (the main users of the “Villetta”) to rediscover the magical dimension of the everyday, and to seek the extraordinary in the ordinary, turning it into a new, playful experience.
The title of the work – quoting a phrase by Gregory of Nissa, a Cappadocian theologist who lived in the 4th century –, “Concepts create idols. Only amazement knows.” invites us to be amazed by the simple beauty of the everyday, and to observe how a gesture or a gaze are capable of transforming even the most ordinary element of a landscape, into something extraordinary, fairy and weightless.

Lorenzo Vitturi 
Solo lo stupore conosce (Only Amazement Knows)
Opening: 28 July 2018, 8:30 pm
"Villetta", Via Roma 
In front of the town hall
Gagliano del Capo, Lecce
www.capodarte.it