Serendippo presents Yellow Submarine - The Sea in Black and White, a solo exhibition by Pietro Antolini, curated by Tristana Chinni, at 5/C LAB in Bologna. The site-specific project occupies the spaces of former turner Orlando Martello’s workshop, transforming them into an underwater Wunderkammer populated by artist’s books and paper sculptures. The opening is scheduled for April 12, 2026 at 6 p.m., with the exhibition open until April 23.
The exhibition itinerary unfolds among the historic machinery and yellow floors of the workshop, where Antolini’s creatures-imaginary fish, tritons and bicauded sirens-emerge from drawers and niches like presences from a primal world. The work Moray e el (2018), the only color pop-up book, introduces visitors to the exhibition’s central series, The Sea in Black and White. Launched in 2019, the collection includes eleven accordion books and sculptures, a selection of which are on display at the venue, and combines art and science to explore the marine dimension. The works are made of intaglio paper treated with oil, wax, and pigments, materials that restore lived-in and layered surfaces.
Antolini’s training as a restorer profoundly marks his artistic practice. The use of patinas, earths and waxes gives the works a physical temporality, while the creative process involves mixed techniques: cutting, done with scissors or tears, initially replaces drawing, which intervenes only in the final phase as a deep incision on the material. The artist investigates the fascination of the unknown evoked by the sea or wild environments, addressing themes that interweave myth and imagination with precise formal research. Paper, fragile and everyday, becomes an instrument of vision and a poetic device.
At the same time, the exhibition reflects on the environmental urgencies of the Anthropocene. The bleaching of coral reefs and the loss of biodiversity are translated into a visual meditation on the fragility of ecosystems: white symbolizes emptiness and erasure, black threat and destruction. The making of the works takes the form of a methodical rituality, through repeated and controlled gestures that construct the image by accumulation and subtraction, reinforcing the aspect of slowness and care in artistic practice.
Pietro Antolini, born in Sassuolo in 1973 and active in Bologna, has long experience in the restoration of frescoes and gilded furniture. Alongside his artistic research and activity as an atelierist, he works as an environmental educator. His works have participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, as well as national and international festivals dedicated to the artist’s book.
Hours: Monday, April 13 to Saturday, April 18: 6 to 8 p.m. Other days visitable by appointment.
Admission: Free
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| Bologna, Pietro Antolini transforms a laboratory into an underwater Wunderkammer |
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