World is a House of Departures

Emanuele Resce’s work is shaped by layers, temporal, geographical, and interpretative. These do not simply accumulate; they overlap, intersect, and influence one another, generating complex, sometimes parallel realities. Drawn to what escapes immediate perception, he moves freely between past and present. This exhibition begins in Istanbul, where the artist spent several weeks. There, he encountered a city formed through successive transformations: Ottoman heritage coexisting with large-scale contemporary urban development, and different religious traditions inhabiting the same architectures over time. This context, together with the encounters he experienced, prompted a reflection on form and meaning, symbol and material, and on the coexistence of multiple temporalities within a single space. Certain visual references became central to this process. The drawings attributed to Mehmet Siyah Kalem, particularly his depictions of jinn, embody cultural hybridizations between Central Asia and the Islamic world. These figures gradually populated the artist’s studio during the development of the works. Most of the pieces were produced in Casalbore, a small village in southern Italy where Resce grew up. Returning there after several years in Milan opened a different perspective: that of a place equally marked by layers of history. From Samnite necropolises to Lombard and Norman remains, the territory becomes both a site of investigation and a working material, this time charged with a strong personal dimension. Time is the central axis of Resce’s practice, though not as a linear progression. Forms, symbols, and narratives do not follow one another, they coexist. The resulting works assemble heterogeneous elements into unstable configurations, suspended between construction and transformation. Blending materials and references, and oscillating between human, animal, and mechanical forms, they appear as contemporary totems carrying both individual and collective memories. After Istanbul and Casalbore, this line of inquiry extended to Berlin. In a markedly different urban context, the artist continued to explore the relationships between languages, places, and temporalities, while opening his practice to new collaborations, particularly with artists from the street art scene. Departures and returns ultimately converge in this exhibition, which invites the viewer to step into a space where time unfolds differently. Artists Tahir Akinci, Elifnaz Öngören, and Hilal Can have all initiated collaborations with Emanuele Resce following his residency in Istanbul. Text by Eleonore Varone / Secant space Istanbul Curation Eleonore Varone / James Verhille This exhibition is supported by Nashira Gallery in Milan