Cosmological Flow

Unique in their own right and united by a remarkable inventiveness and a vibrant creativity, Bruno Contenotte (1922–1992) and Renato Volpini (1934–2017) approached contemporary artistic languages and the use of new materials in a dynamic and lively manner, moving beyond traditional artistic techniques in favour of an expressive, dialectical and technological form of experimentalism.

From the 1960s onwards, by subverting the paradigms of modern painting, Bruno Contenotte, much like an alchemist, chose to express himself through unusual, industrially manufactured synthetic materials such as polyesters, expanded polystyrene and silicones which, when suitably treated with fire, special acids and chemical reagents, were fixed onto Resinflex or jute to create science-fiction-like evocations and metaphysical images. Thus was born a unique repertoire of planetary and spatial images (then unknown and still only imaginable) and depictions of unknown and mysterious places in which the artist’s poetic vision of the cosmos emerges.

During the same period, whilst staying in Panarea, Renato Volpini – born in Naples and educated in Urbino – witnessed an event that would haunt his life and his artistic practice forever: in 1961, he spotted a spacecraft on the horizon. That sighting left an indelible mark on his work, which was already characterised by exploration and movement; from that moment on, it shifted towards an exploration of the Elsewhere and the imagination of those very celestial routes that science was still planning to traverse.

Moving from painting to sculpture, from etchings and aquatints to experimental engraving, from drawing to digital printing, Volpini, much like an architect, assembles multi-material collages on these media, generating science-fiction-like silhouettes in vivid colours that combine the mechanomorphic appearance of spaceships with the sensitive intelligence of living beings. The result is a series of surreal anddreamlike representations in which the mechanical element and its spatial devices come to life to the point of personification, incorporating the subjectivity of the collective imagination and the objectivity of the machine

Bruno Contenotte and Renato Volpini, bold experimenters and non-conformists, refuse to be labelled or pigeonholed within any artistic movement, moving fluidly between abstraction and naturalism.

Indeed, the work of both artists reveals a cosmic-spatial vision reworked through an approach that is not merely reproductive but innovative and transfiguring, far removed from experimentalism for its own sake. Contenotte’s canvases (also known as MQI, or Metafisica Quantica Immagini) depict imaginary – and therefore science-fictional – metaphysical realms that avoid any reference to science or the mass media, preferring instead representations of cosmic possibilities and planetary truths that remain unknown and inexperienceable.

Similarly, Renato Volpini’s work, although more heavily influenced by Pop Art in terms of appearance and aesthetics, moves beyond the mere mythologisation and mass production of the object in favour of a personal yet intersubjective representation in which artistic creativity and technological experimentation interplay to generate a skilful and conscious creation.

Taking physical and mechanical phenomena as their starting point, both Contenotte and Volpini incorporate the elements of consciousness and perception into their structural vision, moving beyond a mechanistic view of reality and suggesting a universe of profound interconnections. The artist, therefore, by positioning themselves as a dynamic observer of the physical world, actively participates in the definition of reality, creating a field of interplanetary possibilities.

The exhibition will therefore feature a succession of Volpini’s space machines and Contenotte’s cosmic-metaphysical images in a dialogue characterisedby a diversity of media, dynamism and vibrant colours. Both artists, in fact, harness the power of colour and the human being’s psychosensory response to create dynamism and movement: whilst, on the one hand, Bruno Contenotte’s art is a continuous flow or an illusionistic representation thereof – as the critic Restany wrote: “It is enough to take in, at a single glance, a whole series of images of quantum metaphysics for the film of metamorphosis to reassemble itself” – on the other hand, Volpini’s cosmic contraptions symbolise the flow of becoming, metamorphosis, evoking a weightless glide towards the Elsewhere.

These elements and their flow give rise to works that extend across time and space.

Accompanying Contenotte’s paintings and Volpini’s collages are two works by Nanda Vigo (1936–2020), the ‘queen of light’, who has always drawn inspiration from the cosmos and the universe. With her ‘Cronotopo’, the artist creates a symbolic object capable of distorting space and time, prompting the viewer to enter an ‘other’ realm – a distant yet intelligible world or a higher dimension.

‘Flusso Cosmologico’ is intended to be an exhibition itinerary that transforms observation into a cosmic journey in which space and time, man and machine, matter and consciousness intertwine in a continuous flow of becoming.

The exhibition will remain open until Friday 24 July 2026 by appointment (art@allegraravizza.com).

Exhibition organised in collaboration with the Renato Volpini Archive, Milan, and the Nanda Vigo Archive, Milan.

Entrance