Called to reflect on the essence of art, Guendalina Urbani presents four works that leave no room for doubt regarding their interpretation. Beyond the various historical-social themes that can be identified through a curatorial observation of her work—from the idea of existential precariousness to a more or less explicit judgement of contemporary society—what we must above all analyse and highlight in depth in these works is their strong expressiveness. The title “Perception” indeed emphasizes the ability of Urbani’s work to be perceived by the viewer. And not only in strictly thematic terms, as previously suggested, but above all in visual-tactile terms. If the task of an artist is to create a reality distinct and parallel to ours in order to convey a personal manifestation of thought, this reality must be as recognisable as possible as authentic and plausible, and ancient art teaches us that one of the most useful means available to the artist to achieve this result lies in tactile values. Similarly, the works of Guendalina Urbani, thanks to their very intense expressiveness, are capable of transmitting certain sensations, such as pain in the case of the work “toothbrush,” or noise-sound in the case of “crack.” Thus, the personal reality created by the artist, as mentioned above, becomes more than ever perceived as authentic and true, because the sensations we experience are authentic and true—indeed, I would say real. Once the work is accepted in its concrete reality, the viewer begins to question its possible interpretative-thematic nuances.

Ultimately, the work of Guendalina Urbani highlights how one of the fundamental characteristics an artwork must possess is perceptive capacity.