In Greek and Roman mythology, it often happened that women or men, animals, or monstrous creatures underwent a metamorphosis, being transformed into constellations. The night sky of the northern hemisphere is thus studded with the protagonists of the stories told by, among others, Eratosthenes, Hesiod, Apollodorus, and Ovid.
For us, alas no longer immersed in that mythical world, many of these names seem distant or unfamiliar, yet they still find their way into our daily lives. Just think of the figures of the zodiac signs, such as the Dioscuri transformed into Gemini, or the term “canicola,” the moment when the Sun’s path leaves the Orionid constellation.
Every human being, however, needs to recreate their own pantheon—the collection of mythical figures to which they can turn. This is precisely what the Cuoghi Corsello did with “Cadaveri squisiti,” a series of neon works presented in 2009 at MACRO, in which they brought together characters that, starting as graphic symbols, have become lights that illuminate our nights. Thus, we find their alter egos and tags, as well as the protagonists of works that—as in ancient Greece—have undergone a metamorphosis and become light.
Among the artists who have populated the walls of Bologna since the late 1980s, Cuoghi Corsello have always stood out with their almost elementary, symbolic strokes, avoiding lettering with American-style color-field backgrounds.
Their figures are drawn using a spray can much like a stylus, thus drawing closer to the etymology of the word “graffito”—that is, the engravings on the walls of Pompeii that Raffaele Garrucci had defined using this term.
And it is no coincidence that after scratching the canvas, Lucio Fontana moved on to neon; for the gestures are similar, requiring the creation of quick, clear marks without ever lifting the hand from the surface. At the BENTIVOGLIO garage, the “Cadaveri squisiti” temporarily take on a new form: a nest; the various parts rest on the large blue crates that hold them, like branches gathered by an unknown animal. And like any nest that shelters eggs waiting to become something else, to undergo
their metamorphosis.
