Broom and Vesuvius: nature according to Allegra Hicks on display in New York City

From Oct. 3 to Oct. 19, 2024, theItalian Cultural Institute in New York will host the exhibition La Ginestra e il Vesuvio, an art project by Allegra Hicks inspired by Giacomo Leopardi’s famous poem. Through eight works, the artist explores the relationship between human beings and nature, contrasting the destructive force of Vesuvius with the resilience of the broom, a symbol of strength and resistance.

Written in 1836, Leopardi’s poem reflects on nature’s indifference to human frailty, describing the broom as a metaphor for the human condition: fragile and destined to succumb. Allegra Hicks, however, offers a complementary view, interpreting the broom as a symbol of regeneration and transformation, capable of emerging from difficulties in an act of vital resistance.

In the Institute’s main gallery, a large 2x2-meter tapestry depicts broom bursting from the mouth of Vesuvius, embroidered in petals that spread like fragments of an eruption. This dynamic image, celebrating creation emerging from destruction, dialogues with the Leopardian message: if for Leopardi nature is stepmotherly, for Hicks it is also a generative force. The triptych displayed in the room accompanies this reflection, exploring the form of the broom in an increasingly abstract way, without ever losing its essence.

In the Borghese Gallery, Hicks presents an immersive installation that transports visitors inside a volcano. The four canvases, dominated by glowing lapilli against dark, intense backgrounds, create an enveloping atmosphere. At the center of the installation, a small bronze broom represents the fragility and tenacity of the flower described by Leopardi as a “desert flower,” an emblem of a wounded but living nature. The bronze, chosen for its strength, adds further symbolic force to the work.

Allegra Hicks’ works combine traditional and contemporary techniques, including tapestry, bronze sculpture, and three-dimensional embroidery. This plurality of media allows the artist to evoke both the fragility of human beings and the regenerative capacity of nature, offering a profound reflection on our connection to the environment, particularly relevant in the Anthropocene era. Broom and Vesuvius is meant to be a celebration of resilience and transformation, an invitation to reflect on the interplay between destruction and rebirth, and the role of nature as a regenerative force for humanity.

“My work is an intimate response to nature: in this exhibition, I choose to pair nature’s capacity to annihilate with its generative power,” Hicks says.

“We are thrilled to host Allegra Hicks’ exhibition at the Institute of Culture. The theme of Broom and Vesuvius is related to Leopardi’s Neapolitan years. The volcano and the broom are symbols of a nature that on the one hand destroys and incinerates, and on the other flourishes on the ash, and thus represent the ambiguities, contradictions, and possibilities in which we live daily,” says Institute Director Fabio Finotti. “Hicks’ works are forms of an art that relies on the great traditions of tapestry and bronze sculpture. Thanks to this plurality of expressive tools, the exhibition perfectly represents the Italian ability to interweave different languages: art and literature, science and philosophy, design and craftsmanship.”

Broom and Vesuvius: nature according to Allegra Hicks on display in New York City

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