From 15 June to 31 August 2024, the solo exhibition TILIGUERTA dedicated
to the endemic animals of Sardinia is on display at Aquarium of Cala Gonone.
Curated by journalist and art critic Alessandra Menesini, the exhibition debuted in the TEMPORARY STORING Space of the BARTOLI FELTER Foundation in Cagliari in 2020, in 2023 it was exhibited at Cagliari airport in the spaces of the Cagliari Airport Library, in 2024 at the Diocesan Arborense Museum in Oristano
It is a traveling exhibition that has the patronage of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, the Regional Network for the Conservation of Marine Fauna and various associations that deal with the protection and preservation of endangered species: CReS (Sinis Recovery Center), the CNR IAS, the Remedies Project, the CRTM (Cetacean and Sea Turtle Recovery Center Laguna di Nora), of the Remedies Project, of the IAS-CNR.
The exhibition is the result of a long research work on typical and endemic Sardinian fauna species that the artist has been carrying out for several years: she has consulted various texts, studied the various species and their characteristics, found a large amount of images, visited protected areas, forests, natural habitats, institutions, natural science museums and has brought back to the canvas the subjects that have most struck her for their characteristics.
The pictorial style is hyperrealism: the animal is defined in every detail, painted entirely with oil colors on large canvases: it is the only protagonist of the canvas, portrayed frontally or from the side, full-length or just an enlargement of the muzzle or half-bust, its gaze is always emphasized, mirror of the soul, which reveals its nature and temperament.
Critical text by Tiliguerta by the curator Alessandra Menesini
Il ragno nuragico, il gatto selvatico, il pastore fonnese. ritratti, in compagnia dei loro simili, nelle tele di Tiziana Sanna come in una (bestiale) galleria degli avi. Primi piani sullo sguardo del gufo e sui palchi ramificati del Cervus, in un repertorio che rende onore alle specie endemiche della Sardegna. Assurti al grado di soggetti pittorici, la rana, la volpe, gli asinelli albini occupano interamente gli sfondi di una quadreria che ricorda le pose auliche dei principi e dei
monsignori. Personaggi eminenti che ai pennelli chiedevano l’immortalità e volevano essere ricordati ai posteri nella gloria delle loro insegne. Tiziana Sanna è andata a cercare nei testi i
nomi scientifici di questi strani animali nati in un’isola e per questo speciali. Più piccoli dei loro colleghi oltre mare e in qualche caso unici. Con abile realismo, l’artista ne riproduce i corpi e i caratteri, collocando però queste antichissime creature in uno spazio neutro per niente mimetico. Colori bruniti, e la luce a piovere sulle corna del muflone, sulle penne candide del barbagianni, sul rostro adunco del grifone .
Quadrupedi, sauri, volatili in una mostra intitolata alla verde TILIGUERTA. La lucertola, dice un verso di Eugenio Montale, ferma sul masso brullo.
Alessandra Menesini
Also on display at the Cala Gonone Aquarium is the work Caretta caretta, a splendid specimen of sea turtle, painted by the artist Tiziana Sanna in oil on a 100 cm x 100 cm canvas, already exhibited at the Galata Museo del Mare in Genoa.
Article by 'Unione Sarda
Listen to the interview with the Director of the Cala Gonone Aquarium Flavio Gagliardi, in which he talks about the exhibition