Tensions

How much tension is there in a block of marble? Where do its veins run, tenacious yet fragile, which the sculptor identifies, follows, and respects just as he does the veins in his arm holding the chisel? At what point in the block does the marble's heart beat, counterpoint to the internal rhythm of the artist? A moment of utmost emotion. And of tension. That tension that tightens the chest and stomach like a knot... 

Tension is the title of the sculpture by Apulian artist Francesco Paglialunga. For him, tension is precisely a knot… To be extracted from a block of Aurisina Granitello. A block that accepts the challenge, though not without resisting this bold form. A challenge on the verge of the impossible, a game between minimal thicknesses, between interwoven voids and solids, in a line that chases itself through the space defined by its extremities. Sinous curves to be caressed, meeting the obstacle of the knot. The knot, indeed... We can imagine the tension generated by a gesture poised either to tighten or, on the contrary, to untie it. 

How much we wish that every knot could be undone, to ease tensions, worries, and the sense of uncertainty brought about by the difficult times we are facing globally: the fear of war, diseases, the loss of values. For the artist, sculpture is a language capable of shaking and awakening individual awareness. 

Laura Vianello

Born in Lecce, after graduating from the State Institute of Art, he trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in his hometown. Since 2014, he has participated in several international monumental sculpture events. In 2017, thanks to a scholarship, he worked for a year with the sculptor Gianpietro Carlesso and attended a sculpture workshop at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

These experiences allowed him to deepen his study of materials and new technologies in contemporary monumental sculpture, to which he dedicated two publications in 2018: "Marble and Stone in Contemporary Monumental Sculpture" and "Material, Form, and New Technologies in Contemporary Monumental Sculpture". 

Since 2018, he has been a professor of sculpture and marble and hard stone techniques at the Fidia Academy of Fine Arts in Vibo Valentia, Calabria. His works attract significant attention from both the public and critics, as they provoke awareness in the individual and inspire deep reflection on the human condition.