Adriatica Contemporanea presents 'Infinito Pratico'
Running from August 1 through August 25 at Palazzina Azzurra in San Benedetto del Tronto, Infinito Pratico presents an independent exhibition organized by the Adriatica Contemporanea association. Curated by Arnold Braho and Giulia Sfirro, the project gathers eleven artists from the contemporary Italian scene to examine the mechanics of repetition. Repetition here reaches past duplication. Each cycle reactivates a single essential gesture and carries the form beyond its earlier state.
The exhibition roots itself in a persistent friction within the Marche culture: the distance between an absolute conceptual horizon and the immediate physical limits of everyday life. Drawing inspiration from Giacomo Leopardi metaphysical inquiries alongside the pragmatic rhythm of local existence, the featured artworks utilize painting, sculpture, video, drawing, and sound. The initiative also pays homage to Eliseo Mattiacci historic 1969 work Zatteronmarante, linking contemporary output to regional artistic ancestry.
The title names the region into two words. ‘Infinito’ belongs to Giacomo Leopardi, who wrote his fifteen lines of blank verse in Recanati between 1818 and 1819, letting a hedge along a hillside open the mind onto limitless space and time without end. ‘Pratico’ belongs to the workshops of the same coastline, the largest shoe district in Italy, where a cut and a stitch repeat until luxury footwear and leather goods leave for brands around the world. Imagination and manufacture keep one rhythm here: a gesture returns, and each return adds to it.
Adriatica Contemporanea works toward a biennial of its own, with an ancestor already on this seafront. From July 5 to August 28, 1969, San Benedetto del Tronto hosted the VIII Biennale d'Arte Contemporanea under the title Al di là della pittura, assembled by Luciano Marucci with Gillo Dorfles and Filiberto Menna, and it placed environments, actions on the landscape, serial objects, and electronic sound where canvases had hung. Infinito Pratico picks that summer back up and asks what a coastal biennial carries now.
Through these decentralized acts, the exhibition establishes an ongoing dialogue between contemporary creative practices, spatial heritage, and the surrounding community.
Stefano Ortega presented his work who created in a specific moment across the high-altitude landscapes of Jujuy in the Argentine Andes, this photographic series grounds itself in the raw texture of the region. Produced locally by Pancho Casagrande, the project reflects a deliberate, native engagement with terrain, altitude, and light.
Executed in glazed ceramic and nylon, Iva Drekalovic’s Vela directly engages the central motifs of the exhibition, exploration, movement, wind, and water, centering the work within the immediate coastal geography.
Oliviero Fiorenzi presented two static kite sculptures, produced in 2024 in collaboration with Arc'teryx using carbon fiber and Gore-Tex. On August 7, the artist activated some other kites as physical structures through a live performance along the beach.
Through his installation Turisti, Davide Monaldi frames tourists as zoomorphic figures rather than human observers. Rendered entirely through unrefined techniques using ceramic and sand, the work offers a visceral critique of modern passage and presence.
Vinicius Jayme Vallorani’s untitled three-part installation, begun in 2022, functions as an evolving study in material behavior. Through a precise assembly of jute canvas, rope, iron, water, acrylic, and dry pastel, the work investigates how contrasting physical elements respond to one another over time.
Mariagiorgia Ulbar developed Manifesto, a participatory project based on the four-letter sequence TANZ. By prompting the audience to supply their own vocabulary and interpretations, the work generated complex thematic responses, which the artist integrated into an informal performance staged during the exhibition run.
Complementing the gallery installation, an extensive public schedule extends beyond the walls of Palazzina Azzurra into various regional sites. Performance interventions by Emiliano Maggi, Oliviero Fiorenzi, Francesca Heart, Martina Gabrielli, Marta Oliva, and Le Trovatrici occupy bars, coastal spaces, and historic courtyards.
‘Infinito Pratico’ Exhibition
August 1st-25th, 2026
Palazzina Azzurra, San Benedetto del Tronto
Adriatica Contemporanea
Curated by Arnold Braho and Giulia Sfirro
Photograhy by Edoardo Comba
Words by Donald Gjoka
What to read next
