TABI IL VIAGGIO | Tom Porta

TABI is not only an exhibition, it is a departure and return in continuum. From the choice of the subject, to the first sketches, to the preparation of canvas and materials, up until the final varnishing which entrusts a precious past moment to the present, TABI is the entirety of works, and every work is TABI, a journey. Every journey, however, is also another type of suffering: it manifests itself as a lack and feeds on both wonder and pain.

TABI is a journey towards a truly beloved Japan, never really let go of, a perhaps unresolved journey, made up of images and profound suggestions which, involving the imagination of an entire generation as well as the artist’s lived experience, have the strength to give the viewer a sense of belonging. TABI is an irrevocable drive and a tangible desire, it is the luggage of an artist, TOM PORTA, prisoner soul, who holds so many things close and who, having left for a distant land, perhaps never really returned from it.