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28 Novembre 2019

Guide to urban art: Pozzo Strada and Parella

Even these districts have their own story to tell, painted on a wall or cast in a piece of hot-molded iron

Alessio Colella (translation by Giulia Schimmenti)

The mural made by Mr. Thoms on the kindergarten J.J. Rousseau (photo by F. Vaglio Laurin)

In our tour to discover the hidden art in the streets and the squares of Turin it is time to visit Pozzo Strada and Parella.

We start our route from via Giuseppe Sapeto 18, where on a wall stands a long colored mural without title made by various authors.
Crossing via Maria Mazzarello and continuing north along corso Brunelleschi, we take via Monte Ortigara where at number 95, in the garden of the library Carluccio, we can see the bronze sculpture Ai caduti sul lavoro (2005) by Salvatore Vitale, a former metalworker who had to suffer the partial amputation of a hand following an accident in the workshop. The monument represents a shred of man holding himself on one hand, deliberately made larger than normal to emphasize the extraordinary effort. A work that recalls the recent past of the city, made of industries and workers.
Next to the sculpture of Vitale, there is the bronze bust that the artist Lena Kosova dedicated to the Russian poet Vladimir Majakovskij: it is the only monument to the artist in Italy.

Continuing on via Ortigara to the corner with via Castellino, you can see the outer wall of the kindergarten J.J.Rousseau, which has been housing since 2012 a colorful mural by Mr. Thoms, depicting a young boy happy to open his mind through culture, a work that aims to be a real source of inspiration for children preparing for a long school career.

Along corso Monte Cucco we arrive in corso Monte Grappa; one of the last crossroads on the left is via Giovanni Servais and at number 5 we find the mural that the German writer Dome created on the facade of the Torre del Centro Civico of Circoscrizione 4 on the occasion of Picturin 2010. There is a flutist, a character who is present in many of his works: for some it would be a reference to the Pied Piper of the Grimm Brothers, but there are also those who have read a criticism of Western society. The bizarre musician, in fact, in addition to being caged like a bird in a wooden house, sits on a large deformed clock, which could represent the distortion of the concept of time in the West. The only possible remedy, according to this interpretation, would be to draw inspiration from the snails, painted while climbing the dial of the clock, or slow down the now unsustainable rhythms of the present to recover their lives.

Finally, we reach the nearby Parco della Pellerina, where we find three works from the Sculture nel Parco project by Sandro Cherchi (Figura nel paesaggio, 1989), Jetta Donegà (Euphoria, 1990), Luigi Mainolfi (La Città, 1992). However, these artworks are scarcely visible and have therefore become easy targets for vandals, as happened to Rotazione coordinata by Riccardo Cordero (1993), which in 2017 was even sawn off and stolen.

 

In collaboration with Study in Torino
Thank you to the art historian Marzia Bolle for her consulting

 

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Categorie: DISCOVERING TURIN

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