Enrico Magnani | Exhibitions

HARMONICES MUNDI

The Golden Perspective of the Universe

Cesare Carbonieri

"Whoever is favored by the stars may boast public honors and proud titles. I, whom Fortune denies such splendor, enjoy unseen what I hold most dear..." No other verse could better represent the state of mind of those who observe the works of Enrico Magnani than this Shakespearean elegy. In his creative project, the artist aims to pursue the betterment of humanity through the recovery of primordial spiritual archetypes. Magnani, in fact, explores the boundless limits of the universe, dissociating himself from conventions and dissolving his expressive capacity into an alchemical formula of deeply satisfying impact.

Enamels, natural materials such as sands, stones, earth, pure gold leaf—applied on canvas or synthetic supports—guide the viewer through a progressive unfolding of maps where the allegorical traces of existence intertwine with the motion of celestial bodies. Nothing is left to chance, not even the craftsmanship elevated to the highest standard of beauty, achieved through meticulous work executed with spatulas, brushes, hands, precision tools, and then subjected to intense drying temperatures.

The Relativity of Perception

This heritage of skill and arcane knowledge will be showcased from April 9th to 30th in Prague in a solo exhibition that the artist himself has deliberately titled "Harmonices Mundi"—in honor of the treatise written by Johannes Kepler, who lived in the Bohemian capital for many years. Here, the German astronomer delved into numerous studies, developing innovative ideas that, in his time, were scarcely understood. "Everyone," he asserted in the fantastical novella Somnium, "absolutely everyone, clamors that the motion of the stars around the Earth is evident to all eyes, as is the Earth’s state of rest. I counter that to the eyes of the lunar beings, the rotation of our Earth and the stillness of the Moon are instead evident. If it were objected that the 'lunatic' senses of my lunar beings are deceived, with equal right I could argue that it is the earthly senses of us Earthlings that are deceived when devoid of reason."

A New Rosetta Stone

Taking Kepler’s provocation as his own, Magnani weaves his cosmic vision into the folds of scientific debate—a vision intent on unraveling the mystery of life, beginning with the disputes among ancient mythological deities that metaphorically personify the influence of planets on the human psyche. In works dedicated to the struggles between Mars and Pluto or Mars and Venus, the artist lays the groundwork for constructing a new Rosetta Stone—without, however, neglecting the fundamental importance of acoustic energy, as foreseen by Harmonices Mundi and inherent in all things belonging to absolute reality in the form of light and sound. A suggestive design through which Magnani seeks to establish a bridge, visualizing a eurythmic sequence of signs and colors projected beyond the space-time dilation of infinity.

Divine Messengers

Aiding him in this journey across mysterious frequencies—where images merge with symphonic harmonies—are magical symbols, very much like those used by the revered 16th-century scholar Dr. John Dee during his divinatory experiments in Prague. Observing the labyrinths, crosses, and geometric figures arranged by the artist on canvas, one cannot help but think of the Enochian alphabet, through which the English alchemist claimed to have established a privileged relationship with the archangel Uriel and uncovered the secrets of an otherworldly reality. An otherworldly reality that, in Magnani’s exhibition, converges—through a succession of mesmerizing chromatisms—with the precious golden perspective of the universe.