Loom: Ephemeral Yet Anchored

Rubelli recently opened the exhibition Loom by artist Marcela Cernadas and in collaboration with Galeria Michela Rizzo, which was crafted for Ca’ Pisani Rubelli, the historic headquarters of the company in the middle of Venice. The show includes a series of artworks forming an immersive installation, highlighting the inextricable link between weaving and a region’s culture.

TLMag: Can you elaborate on the relationship Rubelli has with supporting the contemporary art scene?

Loredana Di Pascale: The Rubelli company has always had a special place for art. Our Venetian soul has always helped to be up to date and open-minded when it comes to the contemporary art scene. To tell the story behind Rubelli and the art movement, we have to make a distinction as we are divided in two: Rubelli as a textile company working together with great creatives and Rubelli as a promoter to support the art scene.

So, on one side the Rubelli company works together with artists, designers or architects such as Gio Ponti, Joseph Kosuth, and Brigitte Niedermair. For this, we are constantly looking to combine new technologies with historical knowledge to bring life to the artist idea. The textile company loves challenges, for this reason, Rubelli’s mill is continuously updated to guarantee the required results.

On the other side, Rubelli is supporting art. When it comes to this, there is no focus on showing and selling, but on giving a voice to the artists and their works. Art is education, it’s an instrument that can help to reflect on moral and human dynamics. For this reason this year Rubelli has decided to support and host at Ca’ Pisani Rubelli the work of an Argentinian artist, Marcela Cernadas – LOOM. The artist, in accordance with the company, decided to use Rubelli fabrics to promote her personal message. This means that the company needs to be very open to let the artist talk.

Every collaboration fascinates us, with all the ways an artist can work by using different types of fabrics. And every time the company discovers a new side of its own identity; and this identity can grow thanks to this connection.

TLmag: the exhibition presents works with colors of white that range towards the lightness of blues, associated with the ephemeral. I am curious how the works connect transience within the theme of identity?

LP: Through her artwork, the artist seems to tell us that identity is at the same time ephemeral and anchored. I could compare it to a coin and its two faces, two definitely different elements that create an indivisible whole. Marcela’s work is the representation of a sequence of instants, embodied by single petals -every petal represents every instant in our lives. The different colors of the petals seem to remind us that our life is not monochrome, nor anchored, nor tied tightly. Its ephemeral side represented in clear, white tones that cannot be denied. An absolutely indefinite side, full of unexplored possibilities and potentials.

TLmag: what would you say is your favorite work in the exhibition?

LP: The petals applied on the beams of the ceiling. They remind a series of musical notes on the score, creating a kind of endless rhythm. They flow inside and outside the Palazzo,” embracing” it and thus building a kind of mutual interweave and interconnection.

TLmag: the exhibition has neither an entrance or an exit. What does this imply within the context of identity, the interweaving of architecture and art & celebrating fabrics?

LP: The artist was able to create a dialogue between fabrics and architecture. I could even say between present and past. Marcela’s artwork develops both outside and inside the palazzo. Outside, the ribbons made with our Velvetforty embrace the façade columns; inside, tiny pieces of the same velvet have been transformed into romantic petals or minuscule fragments applied on a panel. In such a way the contemporary and the velvet – which refers to innovation – is in dialogue with the historic Venetian palace, referring to tradition. I would say, a very original way to use a Rubelli fabric!

TLmag: this isn’t the first time the Rubelli group, Galleria Michela Rizzo and artist Marcela Cernadas work together. It seems like a successful collaboration, will we see this formation in the near future?

LP: Rubelli knew and ‘experienced’ the art of Marcela Cernadas for the first time in 2017 when our Venetian showroom hosted her performance, Penelope. It was for us an absolutely new and successful experience. This year Marcela’s proposal was something totally different. Curious and exciting, intriguing enough to be considered by us.

As for the future, who knows? Maybe Marcela will be able to surprise all of us once more!