In Greek and Roman mythology, it was common for men and women, animals, or monstrous creatures to undergo a process of metamorphosis, being transformed into constellations. The night sky of the Northern Hemisphere is thus studded with the protagonists of the tales recounted by Eratosthenes, Hesiod, Apollodorus, and Ovid, among others. For us, alas, no longer immersed in that mythical world, many of these names seem distant or unfamiliar, yet they still permeate our daily lives. One need only think of the figures of the zodiac signs, such as the Dioscuri transformed into Gemini, or the term "dog days," the period when the Sun’s path leaves the Dogs of Orion. Every human being, however, has a need to recreate their own pantheon—a collection of mythical figures to look to. This is what Cuoghi Corsello did with their 'Exquisite Corpses,' a series of neon works presented in 2009 at the MACRO, in which they gathered characters that evolved from graphic marks into lights that illuminate our nights. There are their alter egos and tags, or the protagonists of works that, just 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, sign-based strokes, avoiding the lettering typical of American-derived color field painting. Their characters are drawn using a spray can as if it were a stylus, thus drawing closer to the etymology of the word "graffito"—those inscriptions on the walls of Pompeii that Raffaele Garrucci had codified using this term. And it is no coincidence that after scratching the canvas, Lucio Fontana moved on to neon; the gestures are similar, requiring the drawing of quick, clear lines without ever lifting the hand from the surface. At garage BENTIVOGLIO, the 'Exquisite Corpses' temporarily take on a new form: a nest. The various parts rest upon the large blue crates that cradle them like branches gathered by an unknown animal. And like any nest that holds eggs waiting to become something else, to complete their metamorphosis.
