Francesco Gennari Ascensione / Ascension, 2005
Wood, marble (Nero del Belgio), glass (painted from behind), 4 snail shells
Four snail shells are placed between a slate of black Belgian marble and a square sheet of glass that has been back-painted to resemble a star-strewn sky. The work embodies the idea of a miniature world where the snails carry the weight of the cosmos, as the Titan Atlas carried the world on his shoulders according to Greek mythology. Francesco Gennari has created a mythical narrative to explain the genesis of this work: four snails have paid with their lives in the effort to preserve order in this miniature universe.