Carlo Crivelli. Felice Levini. Eclectic Archaeologies

The No Man’s Land Foundation presents “Archeologie Eclettiche / Eclectic Archaeologies” sat Orsini Colonna Castle in Avezzano, an event that brings together the works of the artist Felice Levini with the compositions of the musician Carlo Crivelli. Organised under the patronage of the Municipality and with the support of Zeryntia – Association for Contemporary Art (OdV), the exhibition is accompanied by a critical essay by Massimo Belli. The opening and closing ceremonies will feature live musical performances created especially for the occasion by maestro Carlo Crivelli. The event unfolds throughout the spaces of the Castello Orsini Colonna, recently restored and reopened as a museum complex, creating a dialogue between the contemporary and the historic significance of the venue in an interplay that enhances both identities.

“Eclectic Archaeologies” is an exhibition-concert aimed at reinterpreting the forms of the past through a dual visual and musical lens, developed in close collaboration by two masters deeply rooted in the local area and accustomed to combining the expressive modes of their respective disciplines: on the one hand, Crivelli’s music, which stems from a forty-year relationship with the visual arts—particularly cinema—having composed numerous and highly acclaimed soundtracks; on the other, Levini’s practice, which has been linked from the outset to the concept of listening and the sonic dimension, evident in works such as the megaphones.

In the founding concept of “Archeologie Eclettiche”, the contemporary is understood as an incubator for artefacts stemming from the evolution of past cultures, and ‘history’ is conceived as a continuous flow – a movement that stretches from antiquity to the present, allowing fragments to emerge that can be reassembled into combinations of sonic and visual resonances, and thus experienced through both sight and hearing. It is on this premise that both artists’ research is based: Crivelli through the use of instruments and sounds from different eras and places, reinterpreted in a contemporary key; Levini through the ironic juxtaposition of images and forms from different eras, gathered into a visual encyclopaedia in which everything can intermingle and contribute to the historical narrative.

The exhibition begins in the outer courtyard, where Levini drives the enormous arrow Marte – from the series Dal Giorno alla Notte – with an oblique, downward trajectory, an archaic echo of a mythological sign, bearing a symbolic and sacred message. It marks the threshold of a direct relationship between the artist and the venue, which is renewed by hosting his works and, at the same time, the opening of a dialogue with the public, who will find further opportunities for interaction between past and present inside.

On the walls of the majestic entrance hall, now transformed into a theatre, stand out three imposing works by Levini from the series Progettare il Caos: over thirty metres of images narrating the contemporary era – from the early 20th century to the present day – densely dotted with marker pen on paper and framed by the artist’s quotations and reflections, reminiscent of ancient Ionic and Corinthian friezes depicting the deeds of heroes and deities. On the floor, beneath the panels, two painted resin megaphones (from the series Non finirà mai – megafoni, 2008) diffuse sounds and words intrinsic to the narrative vocation of Progettare il Caos, amplifying its figurative, sonic and conceptual significance.

The most intense moment of “Archeologie Eclettiche” takes place on the main floor of the Castle, with a constant interplay between the visual aspect and the auditory dimension. Here, a direct dialogue unfolds between Carlo Crivelli’s musical compositions and Felice Levini’s works, and the past is projected into the present through the fusion of memories and contemporary visual and auditory languages. Pre-recorded and diffusely played throughout the space, Maestro Crivelli’s music—enriched by elements of electronic music and fragments of soundtracks reworked specifically for this occasion—forms an integral part of the exhibition experience. They resonate within the ancient architecture of the Castle in harmony with Levini’s works – the ceramic masks, the nautical sails Ottavo Giorno displayed as tapestries, the large paintings such as Cavallo donato (2004) and Giordano Bruno (2026), the twelve recent Non finirà mai – orologi, and the polychrome ceramic vases (2019) – generating a synaesthesia that stimulates and guides the visitor’s sensibility.

In this sense, the observation by Massimo Belli is spot on and worthy of agreement: “Archeologie Eclettiche” triggers in the viewer a form of paramnesia akin to déjà‑vu thanks to the visual and auditory fusions of Carlo Crivelli and Felice Levini, comparable to “distant worlds which, when observed and listened to carefully, emerge as vivid memories from our imagination”.

CARLO CRIVELLI e FELICE LEVINI. Archeologie Eclettiche
Castello Orsini Colonna, Avezzano (AQ), 19.09-25.10.2026