In the setting of the Church of Saints John and Paul, whose origin dates back to the 12th century, Paolo Icaro (Turin, 1936), among the most important sculptors on the contemporary art scene, is invited to to dialogue with the striking medieval architecture. Icaro has imagined a poetic intervention made directly on site, which starts precisely from the relationship with the surrounding environment: the installation consists of mirrored glass plates placed above small raised elements, which capture and reflect the paintings on the walls around, amplifying them. In this way, the viewer is invited to an unprecedented interaction between his or her position, gaze and the images around him or her.
Anachronismo marks the return to Spoleto of Paolo Icaro, to more than fifty years after his participation in the Premio Spoleto (1966) and the historic exhibition Undici artisti italiani degli anni Sessanta (1967), curated from Giovanni Carandente to Palazzo Ancaiani, in which authors such as Giosetta Fioroni, Jannis Kounellis, Eliseo Mattiacci, and Pino Pascali took part. In the same years Icaro participated to important exhibitions remembered today as fundamental moments in the history of art and exhibitions of the last century, such as Arte Povera Im- Spazio at Galleria La Bertesca in Genoa (1967); Arte povera plus poor actions in Amalfi; Op Losse Schroeven. Situaties en cryptostructuren at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; When Attitudes Become Form at the Kunsthalle Bern (1968-1969). Other institutions that have hosted his works include GAM - Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin; UCLA - University of California, Los Angeles; Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice; Università Statale, Milan. His works can be found in some of the most important international public collections, including: Centre Pompidou, Paris; La Galleria Nazionale, Rome; Collezione dei Musei Civici, Milan; MAMbo, Bologna; MAXXI, Rome.