In Deleuze's book "The Fold: Leibniz and the Baroque", the author looks at the concept of the fold conceived as something found everywhere as a feature of matter in the world, yet not considered as universal since no two things are ever folded the same way. Hence the concept of the fold is always something singular, something in continuous variation. A constant inspiration for fashion designers à la Madame Grès, folds are at the centre of Umberto Mariani's practice.
Born in 1936, Mariani developed a passion for neoclassical art during his studies with Achille Funi at the Accademia di Brera, between 1954 and 1958.
While he started exhibiting in the '60s, Mariani developed his dialogue with textiles only a decade later when he experimented with draped letters on canvas (in the decades that followed, Mariani also worked with iron and lead). These fabric alphabets became a constant in his production, and they are currently being celebrated in an exhibition at the Ducal Palace Museum complex in Mantua, Italy (until 7th February 2021).
Folds were always popular, from classical art, through the Byzantine and Renaissance period and they became a favourite motif during the Baroque. As stated above, folds also inspired fashion designers like Madame Grès who elevated the humble fold to pure perfection.
Mariani's fascination for folds came from his passion for classical statues, but his first experiments were studies of the folds found in objects such as cushions, armchairs or even boots.
The artist used light or heavy fabrics anchored to the canvas to create conplex structures regulated by a precise rhythm and a special geometrical logic.
There are two aspects of the fold that fascinate Mariani: the hidden part of the fold, the section of material we can't see but that gives shape to the textile structure, and then the geometrical precise lines and motifs that you can create using folds. Besides, metaphorically speaking, folds are also employed by Mariani as symbols, almost as screens that can protect and hide a person, an idea or a vision.
In Deleuze's essay the fold is intended as something multiple and continuous, expressing matter as infinitely complex. The essay also highlights that the process of unfolding opens up another fold as "a fold is always folded within a fold". This principle is particular fascinating if applied to Mariani's works since it hints at the possibility of creating infinite geometries hidden in between the interstices of these folded canvases.
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