Giorgio Tentolini
Alassio

As if they had just emerged from the sea, Giorgio Tentolini’s Sirens will inhabit Molo Bestoso from June 7 to September 7, marking the seventh edition of LIGYES, the Alassio Festival of Culture, under the patronage of the Liguria Region, the City of Alassio, and Visit Alassio.

The exhibition, “Le Sirene: il richiamo del mare,” is presented in collaboration with Galleria Ravagnan, participating in the Ligurian festival for the second time. A champion of contemporary art in its many expressive forms, the gallery last year brought Bruno Catalano’s Travelers to Alassio.

The Greek myth of the Sirens evokes the voyage of Ulysses—and of each of us. “The project I envisioned for LIGYES,” writes Tentolini, “stems from an exploration of Mediterranean memory and its ties to the cultures that have crossed it. The metal mesh, a central element, becomes a symbol of connection, entrapment, and filter—a metaphor for the sea itself, which links distant lands, captures stories, and reflects the infinite.”

Tentolini sculpts emptiness using light materials. His Sirens—youthful, magnetic, and hypnotic—still immersed in water, emerge through metal mesh set against polished steel backdrops. “Each Siren, with her enigmatic face, is a fragment of the sea and its mysteries,” he continues. “Through reflective surfaces, the work invites the viewer to see themselves in the Sirens, to confront the disorientation that often accompanies desire. The mesh, fragile yet strong, evokes the Sirens’ dual nature: seductive yet ensnaring creatures, capable of capturing and transforming those who encounter them.”

The names of the artist’s marine creatures resonate in ancient Greek: Γαλήνη (Galene) serenity, Βάθος (Bathos) depth, Μαγεία (Mageia) enchantment, Λιμήν (Limen) harbor, Ύμνος (Hymnos) song, Αέναος (Aenaos) eternity.

From their dizzying mirrors they lure the gaze, yet they themselves appear caught in the net.
Ligyes: the name ancient Greeks gave to the Ligurians. There is a suggestive, though unproven, phonetic connection with Ligeia, one of the mythological Sirens, “the melodious one.” Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa made her the protagonist of his story “Lighea”:

“And so the song began again. It was the same, and yet different, stronger, almost fierce, and it seemed all the waves of the sea joined in it. (Lighea) Don’t believe the stories made up about us. We don’t kill anyone. We only love.”

Chiara Ravagnan highlights the symbolic and artistic value of the installation:

“The Sirens,” she says, “are a perfectly harmonious intervention, in tune with the maritime landscape and the Festival’s theme. After the success of Bruno Catalano’s ‘The Metaphor of the Journey’, we are proud to return for the second year to Ligyes, this time bringing Tentolini’s poetic, intense, and deeply identity-driven work. An artist who speaks the language of the Mediterranean with a voice that is both unique and contemporary. Tentolini’s Sirens are not mere presences: they are visions, omens, evocations that resonate with the sound of the waves. Every face sculpted in the mesh becomes a reflection of the observer, a mirror of desire and mystery. In these works, art doesn’t just represent: it captures, transforms, holds. Like the sea. Like the Sirens.”

On the occasion of the festival's opening, Giorgio Tentolini will sign a tile on the famous Muretto di Alassio, in the presence of the Mayor of Alassio, Marco Melgrati, and Angela Berrino, representative of the Berrino Foundation.

Giorgio Tentolini was born in 1978 in Casalmaggiore, in the province of Cremona, where he lives and works. His artistic practice is rooted in a poetic and analytical exploration of memory and time, expressed through layers of light materials such as paper, tulle, and metal mesh. Hovering between painting and sculpture, his work has gained international recognition and has been exhibited in institutions and galleries across Europe, the United States, and Asia. In 2024, he was among the artists selected for the Cameroon Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale.