Exhibition Showcases Sabine Frank’s Art Linking Bread and Writing in Italy
The charm of bread and writing returns to exhibition these days at Villa di Gargnano, in the picturesque square: an event that will run until April 30th, with opening hours from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.
Visitors will be presented with the theme “Pane, brot, pain,” a title in three languages reflecting the content of Sabine Frank‘s works.
The artist’s work
The Franco-German artist bases her work on bread and writing, connecting two elements that might only appear distant at first glance. This is a research project that Frank has been conducting for years across many European countries.
In Italy, she has chosen Garda and Tuscany. Some reflections may lead to a rediscovery of bread and its valorization as a symbol, more than as a food, endowing it with the aura of sanctity and respect that has always been attributed to it in many civilizations.
From the oldest and most distant to our own, which partly based its philosophy on the concept of “use and throw away” or, more often, “buy and waste.” Bread, on the other hand, is set aside, reheated, and consumed even if stale: it is difficult to find the courage (or the cowardice) to waste and throw it away.
Similarly, a written text, document, or book—whether useful or not—is given a corner and stored away. Then it is forgotten: but rarely is it discarded entirely.
Reflections on writing and bread
These principles and reflections are not unfamiliar to the German artist. At the core of Western diet, especially, is bread, a product of tradition and a fundamental symbol of a dietary habit that shows no signs of decline in our latitude.
Likewise, writing has allowed humans, thousands of years ago, to transmit themselves to those who would succeed them: this has happened for centuries and continues to this day.
And so, in the digital age, with computers now common in many households, paper and pen have not diminished in value. Neither have original handwritten documents, which have instead increased their allure for experts and enthusiasts alike.
Parchment or yellowed paper now display the contents of the writing. Sabine Frank‘s insight, a German living in France who spends part of the year on Garda and in Tuscany, lies in the juxtaposition of these two elements: writing and bread.
The artistic technique
Her work involves painting various and curious forms of bread onto ancient European notarial documents. The artist pairs, as a rule, shapes of bread she has purchased in a certain place with documents that reflect elements of the same region: notarial contracts, marriage records, sales agreements, and so on. An unusual but highly evocative pairing.