Sirmione: an irresistible call for art in motion

Sirmione, with its beauty and its delicate balance, is once again confirmed as a place of attraction for artistic interventions which, freeing creativity, invite us to reflect on issues of great social importance.

After the ten-year Public Art Sirmione, La mostra con il panorama più bello del mondo, and the recent photographic project Connections, this time is the case of “Dove vai…“, the work of the mysterious collective Gianus, which appeared on Sunday morning November 6 at the Spiaggia delle Bionde.

The work, which as usual for this type of artistic interventions was quickly picked up by the public, consisted of two canvases made with the stencil technique depicting a child with a water tank on a red background. A reference to the drought emergency that also hit Lake Garda starting last summer. The chosen position underlines the contradiction between the presence of water and the serious water crisis: the canvases were placed on a water pipe, as if to evoke the breakdown of a balance caused by climate change.

Behind the name Gianus there are two artists whose identity is not known to date. The duo (hence the name inspired by the two-faced Roman god Ianus), is inspired by the famous street artist Banksy and deals with current issues such as the water crisis and war. She began to spread in his works in Mantua, Castiglione delle Stiviere, Solferino and the morainic hills area, then publishing the interventions on his Instagram profile.

Nell‘intervista rilasciata a Giovanni Vigna, pubblicata dal Corriere della Sera, l’artista dice di aver scelto Sirmione come palcoscenico delle sue opere perché predilige i luoghi ricchi di bellezza, storia e cultura. “Il lago è ampiamente in sofferenza – spiega Gianus – le persone passano e non comprendono. Rimangono indifferenti”. Secondo l’artista, i social annullano i confini collegando persone che si trovano a distanze siderali l’una dall’altra ma anche la siccità, a ben vedere, avvicina l’Italia e l’Europa all’Africa: “L’arte può aiutare a sensibilizzare? La siccità ha modificato il territorio. Che cosa avrebbe detto Catullo di questo cambiamento? Il tempo darà risposte“.

Anche Flavio Marcolini su Bresciaoggi dedica un articolo all’incursione artistica di Gianus

In the interview with Giovanni Vigna, published by Corriere della Sera, (in Italian only) the artist says he has chosen Sirmione as the stage for his works because he prefers places rich in beauty, history and culture. “The lake is largely suffering – explains Gianus – people pass by and do not understand. They remain indifferent”. According to the artist, social networks cancel borders by connecting people who are at sidereal distances from each other but also drought, in hindsight, brings Italy and Europe closer to Africa: “Art can The drought has changed the territory. What would Catullus have said about this change? Time will give answers “.

It is inherent to this type of interventions, and in some cases it forms an integrated part of the performances themselves, the practice by the public of freely withdrawing the works. In the case of Gianus, whoever finds them takes a selfie to send to the web platforms managed by the collective and then can keep them or give them to public bodies.

Flavio Marcolini on Bresciaoggi also dedicates an article to Gianus’s artistic incursion