nctm e l’arte hosts the presentation of artist Uriel Orlow

His work deals, with rigor and concision, through different expressive languages, with the theme of the past, of history and its heritage, of the removed and the remains of great ambitions. Interested in the idea of temporal stratification, the artist focuses on the knot that binds present and future to an unresolved past, trying to shed light on the possibilities of understanding today and finding a meaning for tomorrow.

Some of his work is concerned, for example, with the post-Soviet reality of places with a complex past such as Armenia (Remnants of the Future, 2010-2012; Porous Present, 2010 – 2014). The series Still Aftershock, now part of the collection of nctm e l’arte, is dedicated to that country.

The work begins with a series of images of the destruction caused by an earthquake that struck Spitak, a town in northern Armenia, then part of the Soviet Union, in 1988.

In recent years Orlow’s attention has shifted towards colonial history and its effects on today’s society. The research brought him to South Africa, with a long-term investigation that combines archive materials and other ideas, all related to the field of botany.

On the occasion of Manifesta 12 (Palermo, 16.06 / 04.11.2018), the artist created the series Talking to Trees, dedicated to certain trees representative of the history of Italy: the cypress of St. Benedict, patron saint of the city of Palermo, the Olive tree of the Armistice, which witnessed the Second World War, and the tree of Giovanni Falcone located near the house of the magistrate. The project is supported by nctm e l’arte.