Sergi Barnils – La memòria de la pedra
Turin, 24 September – 31 October 2026 |
La memòria
de la pedra
Sergi Barnils
24 September – 31 October 2026
Turin
Via della Rocca 36, 10123 Turin, TO
Tuesday – Saturday 3pm – 7pm
From September 24, 2026, MARCOROSSI artecontemporanea presents La memòria de la pedra at its Turin location, the new cycle of works by Sergi Barnils, following the preview at the Pietrasanta location on July 25th.
On display are carved stones worked with the encaustic technique—the Greek and Roman tradition of painting with wax and fire—engraved with the unmistakable mark of the Catalan artist.
Matter as memory
The title of the exhibition evokes the deep relationship Barnils maintains with matter: stone is not merely a substrate, but a guardian of layered memory, of sedimented time.
As in the previous series Pedra Cèlica, in this new cycle the encaustic technique adapts to the porous surfaces of marble, granite, slate, and other stones: the wax covers the material, sealing it, imparting an inner luminosity that cannot be reproduced by other means. Alongside jagged and irregular shapes reminiscent of ancient artifacts, this cycle also introduces geometric forms—circles, ovals, rectangles, rhombuses—that introduce a new tension between the rigor of form and the unpredictability of matter.
An alphabet carved into stone
The graffiti traversing the surfaces—primordial signs, visionary alphabets, traces of a languageless script—belong to a visual vocabulary Barnils has developed and refined over four decades. In La memòria de la pedra, these signs take on a new tension: engraved into stone, they seem to emerge from a geological depth, as though the artist’s hand merely freed what the material already contained.
The project thus unfolds as a reflection on permanence and fragility: stone, among the most enduring materials known to humanity, becomes the repository for Barnils’ intimate reflections on the human condition, on time, and on the celebration of life in all its forms.
Sergi Barnils
Born in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, in 1954, Sergi Barnils has dedicated himself fully to painting since the 1990s. Over time, his artistic language reached full maturity, evolving toward a spatial synthesis where incisive, refined marks dialogue with a palette deeply rooted in Mediterranean tradition. Over the years, Barnils has perfected the encaustic technique—the Greek and Roman wax-and-fire painting method—condensing into his imagery his reflections on the human condition and his personal sense of celebrating life. In recent years, the artist has turned to stone sculpture, expanding his visual alphabet into three dimensions.
MARCOROSSI artecontemporanea — Turin
From September 24, 2026
