DEVOTA
Art and the sacred, territory and community
The site-specific exhibition, curated by Chiara Gatti and based on an idea by Velasco Vitali, has been extended until 1 November 2026. Over the coming months, it will be accompanied by a programme of guided tours, screenings and talks.
BAC Bellano Arte Cultura announces the extension until 1 November 2026 of DEVOTA. Art and the Sacred, Territory and Community, the multi-venue exhibition curated by Chiara Gatti, based on an idea by Velasco Vitali.
Forming part of the annual programme ‘Essere uno con il tutto’, DEVOTA unfolds across seven symbolic sites in the area: San Nicolao Arte Contemporanea, the Giancarlo Vitali Museum, the Church of Santa Marta, the Church of Saints Nazaro and Celso, the Church of San Rocco, the Church of Sant’Andrea in Bonzeno and the Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Lacrime in Lezzeno.
The route winds its way through churches, oratories and parish churches, from the centre of Bellano through the surrounding countryside to the Sentiero del Viandante. The contemporary artworks engage with the sacred spaces and with the historical, architectural and landscape heritage, forming an itinerary dedicated to the various forms of devotion and the sacred.
The ideal starting point for the exhibition is Lucio Fontana’s “Concetto spaziale, Natura” (Spatial Concept, Nature), created in 1967. Centred on the symbolic form of the egg – traditionally associated with birth, regeneration and Marian devotion – the work offers a possible interpretation of the entire exhibition itinerary.
Fontana’s work is presented in dialogue with the works of Alessandro Biggio, Gregorio Botta, Giammarco Cugusi, Cinzia Fiorese, Chiara Lecca, Mirco Marchelli, Daniela Novello, Matteo Pizzolante and Paolo Ventura.
Guided tours and art walks
The extension will be accompanied by a programme of events designed to explore the themes of the exhibition in greater depth and offer the public new opportunities to discover Bellano’s cultural and landscape heritage.
Guided tours and art walks continue, taking the public on an immersive journey to discover the exhibition ‘DEVOTA. Art and the Sacred. Territory and Community’, visiting key landmarks under the guidance of Chiara Gatti alongside the Custodians of Bellano’s Heritage.
The next tour is scheduled for:
Saturday 24 October, 3 pm
San Nicolao Contemporary Art, the Giancarlo Vitali Museum, the Church of Santa Marta, the Church of Saints Nazaro and Celso, the Church of San Rocco, and the Church of Sant’Andrea in Bonzeno.
The route is 1.1 km long, with a 94-metre elevation gain
To take part in the guided tours, please book in advance by emailing: custodipatrimoniobellano@gmail.com
The ticket costs 6 euros and is free for residents.
Lucio Fontana at Bellano Cinema
On Friday 11 September at 9 pm, with free admission, the Bellano Cinema hosted a screening of the documentary “Lucio Fontana. The Final Cut”, dedicated to the artist whose work forms the starting point of the exhibition.
PRESS CONTACTS
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Alessandro Biggio (1974) lives and works between Cagliari and Calasetta. In his practice, which is deeply rooted in the places where he works, experimentation with various materials – both natural and artificial – plays a fundamental role, particularly ash, clay and polyurethane. His sculptures, drawings and installations are the result of lengthy processes in which form and decay coexist in a delicate balance. Notable exhibitions include: 2025, *The ground begins to breathe, the water begins to mould*, Limonaia di Villa Griccioli, Siena, curated by Giacomo Pigliapoco and Galleria FuoriCampo; *Studio per un ritratto*, Monte Verità, Ascona (CH), curated by Nicoletta Mongini; 2024, *Filira*, MAN, Nuoro, curated by Chiara Gatti; Biennale Gherdeina 9, curated by Lorenzo Giusti and Marta Papini; 2023, *Schiume*, Fondazione di Sardegna, Cagliari; 2022, *Appunti per una archeologia del futuro*, Fondazione La Quadriennale di Roma, Palazzo Braschi, Rome, curated by Alessandra Troncone; 2021, Nulla è perduto, GAMeC, Bergamo, curated by Anna Daneri and Lorenzo Giusti; 3.5 million years, Cler, Milan; 2019, Time Signatures, Galerie Stadtpark, Krems, curated by David Komary; 2018, Sénne, Gallerie d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Cagliari, curated by Paola Mura; 2013, *Braccia #2*, Marino Marini Museum, Florence; *Braccia #1*, MAN Museum, Nuoro. In 2020, one of the recipients of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (NY). In 2017, artist-in-residence at AIR-Krems (AT).
Gregorio Botta (1953) was born in Naples but has made Rome his home. He moved to Rome with his family in the 1960s, before enrolling in 1980 at the Academy of Fine Arts in the capital, from which he graduated in 1984. His early exhibition experiences in Rome included taking part in group shows at the Rondanini Gallery and holding solo exhibitions at the Il Segno Gallery. His artistic practice is characterised by the use of humble and ancient materials such as wax, lead, iron and glass, with which he creates works that play on the concept of ‘subtraction’, seeking the minimal and pure essence of things. His works are characterised by minute details that reflect an idea of truth, often evoked through archetypal forms such as the circle, the chalice or the square. Recurring elements of his artistic vision are movement, transparency and impermanence. Water is often used as a symbol of the flow of reality, through which he simultaneously explores the themes of time and life. Over the years, he has created permanent works in public spaces, such as the installation at the Piazza Vanvitelli underground station in Naples (2005) and the one at the Certosa di Padula in Campania. His works are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome, the MAXXI in Rome, the MADRE in Naples, the MART in Rovereto and the MAN in Nuoro.
Giammarco Cugusi (Bergamo, 1991) lives and works in Milan. He graduated in Visual and Performing Arts from the IUAV University of Venice and obtained a Master of Fine Arts from the Kask & Konservatorium in Ghent (Belgium). He was a co-founder and member of XRIVISTA, a contemporary art magazine, and of 27metricubi, a nomadic space dedicated to young artists. His solo and group projects have been exhibited at the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation and Spazio Punch in Venice, Mediterranea 17 in Milan, the Manifesta 12 Collateral Events in Palermo, Central Saint Martins in London, the MACRO Museum in Rome, and as part of the biennial programme ‘Pensare come una montagna’ organised by GAMeC and the ARTDATE festival in Bergamo, amongst others.
Cinzia Fiorese (Bassano del Grappa, 1974) qualified as a fashion designer in 1993; in 1997, she was awarded an Erasmus scholarship and studied at the University of Fine Arts in Cardiff. A student of Riccardo Guarnieri and Ennio Finzi, she graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice in 2001. Since 2001, she has exhibited in various exhibitions in Italy and abroad. Of particular note is her 2023 exhibition *Lo spazio d’oro* at the MAN Museum of Art in Nuoro, alongside works by Giotto and Fontana. She lives and works in Rosà, in the province of Vicenza. Her painting explores the spaces of pre-Renaissance perspective through geometric compositions and golden ratios, often inspired by the Annunciations of the ancient masters. His technique also draws on fourteenth-century painting, using tempera glazes and gold leaf on panel, with production times that can take up to four months for a single work.
Chiara Lecca was born in Modigliana (Forlì – Cesena), where she lives and works in close contact with nature. In 2005, she graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna; her work is primarily installation-based and sculptural, with forays into photography and video art. She focuses her research on the relationship between humankind and nature to highlight the rift created by contemporary society. The animal element, in particular, becomes the subject of a process of semiotic alteration within the social context. His solo exhibitions have been held in various public and private museums, including, in 2025, at the Appartamenti Segreti of Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome and, in 2024, at the Bagatti Valsecchi House Museum in Milan. In 2017, he exhibited at the Collezioni Comunali D’Arte in Palazzo d’Accursio, Bologna, as part of Art City Polis, and in the same year at the Carlo Zauli Museum in Faenza; in 2016, a solo exhibition of his work was held at the Ghisla Art Collection Foundation in Locarno, Switzerland, and in 2015 at the ‘Ottoneum’ Natural History Museum in Kassel, Germany; in 2010, his work was featured at the MAR – Art Museum of the City of Ravenna. In 2019, he took part in the MACRO Asilo project room at the MACRO Museum in Rome, and in 2016 he exhibited at the Palazzo Reale in Milan with the work *Dark Still Life* as a finalist in the 17th Cairo Prize. His research has been presented at various Italian and European institutions, including the Italian Cultural Institute in Madrid in 2018 and the district of Kassel during the EUARCA 2012 European Art Camp.
Mirco Marchelli was born in Novi Ligure in 1963. He lives and works in Ovada, in the province of Alessandria. A multi-talented artist, Marchelli began developing his first works in the visual arts in the mid-1990s, building on his musical exploration. The key to interpreting his work lies in memory and the charm emanating from everyday objects; flagpoles, stools, small pieces of furniture, bits of wood or fabric, books, account books, ledgers, boxes and photographs are coated with a layer of wax that preserves and transforms them. Marchelli breathes new life and meaning into these materials, drawing on their resonances and the stories they embody to tell something new; he does not merely evoke memories, but stirs up associations that lead to a wistful longing for the past.
Daniela Novello was born in 1978 in Milan, where she lives and works. Having graduated in Painting from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, she continued her artistic exploration by devoting herself to sculpture; her preferred materials are marble and lead. Her first solo exhibition, in 2009, was *Tracce urbane*, curated by A. Madesani at the Galleria Quintocortile, followed in 2010 by *L’altro mercato* at Studio Vanna Casati and *Frammenti silenziosi* at the Spaziotemporaneo Gallery; and, in 2013, *Agganci di fase* at the Monteggiori Arte Cultural Association, *Camere comunicanti* at the Gli Eroici Furori Gallery, and *Il giorno imperfetto* at the Torre Viscontea in Lecco, curated by M. Tavola. Convivio and Il giorno imperfetto were the two solo exhibitions held in 2015 at Spazio Aperto San Fedele and La casa della Memoria, curated by C. Gatti and M. Tavola respectively. The projects Tell me the story at the Martina Artecontemporanea gallery and Sia Luce, curated by I. Finiguerra at Biella Cathedral, took place in 2019 and 2020. In 2011, she was invited to the Venice Biennale as part of the ‘L’Arte non è cosa nostra’ section. She won the San Fedele Visual Arts Prize for two consecutive years, in 2008 and 2009; in the same year, she received the acquisition prize at Biennalegiovani.monza.09; and in 2019, she was awarded the Bozzolo Biennale Prize. Between 2020 and 2024, she took part in group exhibitions including ‘Diorama_Generation Earth’ at the MAN in Nuoro, curated by C. Gatti; ‘Dove abita l’uomo’, curated by G. Gardini in Faenza; and ‘Erranti. Art Beyond the Limits of the Visible, curated by F. Alfano Miglietti; Four Galleries for a Century of Art, curated by C. Spadoni; and Still Life, curated by S. Bartolena and A. Fettolini. Between 2018 and 2020, he exhibited as part of the three-year ERO-TIC project, curated by A. Cassano, and in the travelling exhibition *Il profumo del pane*, curated by G. Gardini. He teaches Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Turin and Marble Techniques at Brera.
Matteo Pizzolante (Tricase (LE), 1989). He graduated in Civil Engineering in 2012 and subsequently enrolled on the two-year Sculpture course at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, completing his studies in Germany at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Dresden. His most recent participations include the following group exhibitions: *Imaginarium: New Photography in the Digital Age and the Age of Artificial Intelligence*, curated by Marco Pietracupa, Stadtgalerie Brixen, 2025; ‘Farewell to the Stage – Tools for Reassembly’, curated by Arnold Braho at the Artopia Gallery in Milan, 2024; ‘This (Is Not) a Museum’, curated by Ramdom, Kora – Centre for Contemporary Art (LE), 2023; ‘Leggere gravità – Nucrè, 2nd Edition’, curated by Arechi Invernizzi, Trullo Rubina, Ceglie Messapica (LE), 2023; ‘Chì ghe pù Nissun!’ at Fondazione Elpis, Milan, in collaboration with Ramdom, 2023. The most significant recent solo exhibitions are: *Prove di Presenza*, curated by Romana Stehling, C/Off Space, Munich, 2026; *Sapeva le forme delle nubi* at Kora, Centre for Contemporary Art (LE), 2023; *La linea che ci divide dal domani*, curated by Atto Belloli Ardessi, at FuturDome, Milan, 2022. In 2024, he was a finalist for the FBZ Art Award 2024, organised by the Forschungs- und Behandlungszentrum für psychische Gesundheit in Bochum, and for the 23rd Cairo Prize. In the same year, he was the winner of the residency programme organised by the Heimann Stiftung in Wieslok. In 2019, he won the Jaguart Milano Prize, organised by Artissima, and the Vanni Autofocus10 International Prize. He took part in the Q-Rated, Ricerche sensibili and Panorama projects, all organised by La Quadriennale, Rome.
Paolo Ventura (Milan, 1968) lives and works in Milan. Ventura is a photographer who uses hybrid processes to create works that straddle the boundary between photography and painting. He has exhibited at major museums such as the Mart, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Trento and Rovereto; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; the Library of Congress in Washington; the MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome; the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris; and the Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles. In 2012, he took part in the Italian Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale. In 2020, he opened ‘Carousel’, a retrospective covering the last 15 years of his work, at CAMERA in Turin. He has published several books, including ‘Autobiografia di un impostore’ (Autobiography of an Impostor) in 2021 with the publisher Johan & Levi.
