Francesco Arena
Monitor | Rome
Francesco Arena’s recent solo show featured two pieces, both from 2012. Orizzonte (Horizon) consists of a nearly twenty-four-foot-long metal beam mounted between the walls of the room at a height of approximately five feetthat is, at the artist’s eye level. The top of the beam is covered with earth, about three-quarters of an inch deep, taken from the primary shelter site where immigrants arrive on the island of Lampedusa, near Sicily; much closer to Tunisia than to mainland Italy, the island is a primary location for illegal entry to Europe. Riduzione di mare (Sea Reduction) is a block