PLUMB-LINE WITH A WHITE PEARL | BRUNA ESPOSITO

Bruna Esposito (Rome, 1960) is an Italian artist who dedicates her research to experimenting with various artistic practices. She has traveled – studying and working – in different countries around the world: New York, Berlin, Istanbul, and Bologna are just some of the cities she has touched, where she has always sought to immerse herself, assimilating as much as possible from cultural and artistic realities. Her heterogeneous approach has led her to produce a rich and varied body of work, including installations, collages, photographs, written texts, and performances.

Plumb-line with a white Pearl (2003) is a work that operates on the contrast between two conceptual levels: as indicated in the title, it consists of a thread, a lead weight, and a small white pearl. The total dimension of the object, combined with the presence of the pearl, gives it a feminine and delicate appearance, while the lead weight in the shape of a prism – understood in its instrumental identity – places it in a practical context of manual labor.
The plumb line (another name for the lead wire) is indeed a tool that was once used in construction to determine the vertical direction of a surface relative to a certain point (an object that has now been replaced by more technological electronic devices). Esposito’s plumb line, however, is decorated with a pearl – a rare and precious element by definition – inserted at the end of the wire, just before the prism-shaped weight. This unusual yet simple intervention aims to pay homage to and enhance the practical functionality of the tool.
In Plumb-line with a white Pearl the artist has managed to find the right balance to effectively reconcile these two aspects in a sober and elegant way.

Esposito’s work is distinguished by the poetic style that the artist seeks in the realization of her artworks, always in close connection and harmony with the places where they are installed and exhibited. The pearl and the lead are connected both physically and conceptually, a binomial, that of form and idea, which constitutes the fulcrum of Esposito’s practice: the artist loves to create contrasts, both physical and theoretical, realizing artworks capable of opening a dialogue and questioning themselves.

Bruna Esposito
Plumb-line with a white Pearl, 2003
Lead and pearl, 4 x 9 cm
Photo by Antonio Maniscalco, courtesy of WIZARD GALLERY

13/03/2024