You are cordially invited to the opening of (Under) Black Earth, the first solo exhibition of Bea Bonafini in Hydra, taking place at the newly opened international gallery, WAG Gallery.
The show features works across media, three of which are handtufted carpets made in collaboration with Art Rug Projects by Soutzoglou. This marks the historic return of the Soutzoglou family’s carpet-making activities to Hydra, further highlighted by Bonafini’s residency at The Old Carpet Factory to explore carpet production and the Asia Minor diaspora on the island.
Bonafini’s work elevates traditional craftsmanship from carpet to painting on engraved cork through the intricacies of the material’s metamorphic qualities. The form and the content together allude to humankind’s aspirations, the fall, our fascination with the abyss and the need to make sense of the world through the making of art.
(Under) Black Earth is an archaeological fantasy, a collection of fictional artifacts that point to the mythology of primeval worlds. Bonafini’s interest in these themes developed after visits to Mount Etna in Sicily and a residency at Alkinois in Athens in 2022. Works like Scissors Roman and Scissors Roman IV made from vulcan stoneware or Plinial Fire and Alluvial named after volcanic eruptions highlight these connections.
Collectors, curators and art lovers are invited to meet the artist at the opening of the exhibition which will be held all day on the 19th June until 6pm.