Ad Erigendam Civitatem, an exhibition of Tempio Industriale at the Chiostro di Sant’Agostino of Pietrasanta (Lucca - Italy)

11th -13th October 2024

In partnership with Technè Art services and Festival Libropolis

Our country has many religious buildings that for various reasons have lost their original function. It is not uncommon for these spaces to be used to host art exhibitions and often the works exhibited there are not respectful of the context that hosts them. It is much rarer for these spaces to once again host sacred artistic products, in an attempt to revive the divine aura that once pervaded them. If "abandoned altars are inhabited by demons", as Ernst Junger said, Tempio Industriale wants to bring icons and "altars" back inside a deconsecrated place like the Cloister of Sant'Agostino in Pietrasanta on the occasion of Libropolis.

The Sense of the Sacred is disappearing from everyday life, overwhelmed by individualism and secularization. False myths of progress impose themselves in our lives and suffocate what little tradition we have left after decades of technological abuse and immoderate consumerism. The aim of this exhibition is to present what is believed to be lost and no longer current in a contemporary form, exhibiting works with new materials and forms that hark back to the tradition of popular sacred art in our country. Ex Voto, altars, chapels and votive aedicules were once part of the landscape of our cities and countryside.

Once upon a time it was normal habit to give thanks for a grace received, for an unusual event, for what was considered a miracle. Every house had a small altar with images of ancestors and sacred images. Today these practices are forgotten, mocked, hidden and removed. An enormous heritage of knowledge, wisdom, habits and customs is being definitively lost. People live in cities that look like hives and give more importance to their virtual life than to their spiritual life. Villages and countrysides are emptying because everyone wants to be closer to the centers of consumerism and production. Houses in the mountains are abandoned, churches are closed.

Altars and chapels are abandoned... who lives inside these empty spaces now?

The works of Tempio Industriale exhibited here hark back to the lost traditions of our country. Small nativity scenes made with metal debris found in the streets of big cities, holy cards depicting classic religious scenes in urban and contemporary contexts, icons made with materials from abandoned spaces, collections of phrases that act as a warning to passers-by. Everything produced is presented in a single and communal form, with a modality that sometimes recalls the ex-voto walls of churches and other times the home altar, in a continuous game and dialogue between single works and multiples.

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Il nostro paese ha tanti edifici religiosi che per svariati motivi hanno perso la loro funzione originaria. Non è infrequente che questi spazi vengano utilizzati per ospitare mostre d’arte e che spesso le opere ivi esposte non siano rispettose del contesto che le ospita. È molto più raro che questi spazi tornino ad ospitare prodotti artistici sacri, nel tentativo di ravvivare l’aura divina che un tempo li pervadeva. Se “gli altari abbandonati sono abitati da demoni“, come ebbe a dire Ernst Junger, Tempio Industriale vuole riportare delle icone e degli “altari” all’interno di uno luogo sconsacrato come il Chiostro di Sant’Agostino a Pietrasanta in occasione di Libropolis.

Il Senso del Sacro sta scomparendo dalla quotidianità, sopraffatto dall’individualismo e dalla secolarizzazione. Falsi miti di progresso si impongono nelle nostre vite e soffocano quel poco di tradizioni che ci sono rimaste dopo decenni di abusi tecnologici e consumi smodati. L’intento di questa mostra è presentare ciò che si crede perduto e non più attuale in una forma contemporanea, esponendo opere dai materiali e dalle forme nuove che si rifanno alla tradizione dell’arte sacra popolare del nostro paese. Ex Voto, altari, cappelle ed edicole votive un tempo erano parte del paesaggio delle nostre città e campagne.

Una volta era abitudine ringraziare per una grazia ricevuta, per un evento insolito, per ciò che veniva considerato un miracolo. Ogni casa aveva un piccolo altare con le immagini degli antenati e le immagini sacre. Oggi queste pratiche sono dimenticate, derise, celate e rimosse. Un enorme patrimonio di conoscenza, saggezza, usi e costumi si sta definitivamente perdendo. Le persone vivono in città alveari e danno più importanza alla loro vita virtuale che a quella spirituale. I borghi e le campagne si svuotano perché tutti vogliono stare più vicini ai centri di consumo e produzione. Si lasciano le case in montagna, si chiudono le chiese.

Gli altari e le cappelle sono abbandonati… chi vive ora dentro questi spazi vuoti?

Le opere di Tempio Industriale qui esposte si rifanno alle tradizioni perdute del nostro paese. Piccoli presepi realizzati con detriti metallici incontrati nelle strade delle grandi città, santini che raffigurano le classiche scene religiose in contesti urbani e contemporanei, icone realizzate con materiali provenienti da spazi abbandonati, collezioni di frasi che fanno da monito al passante. Tutto ciò che è prodotto è presentato in forma singola e comunitaria, con una modalità che a volte ricorda le pareti di ex voto delle chiese e altre volte l’altare domestico, in un continuo gioco e dialogo tra opera singola e multipli.

Alice Salvatico

The modern megalopolis are unlivable and they all look the same: a living hell of traffic and micro criminality, a labyrinth of malls and streets.

In the modern cities people live in the traffic to go to work to earn money to buy things...not always needed.

The food is the same from Jakarta to Los Angeles, the chains of shops are the same doesn’t matter if you are in Casablanca or Manila, people wear the same brands of clothes in Beijing or in New York, people listen to the same music and watch the same shows across the world; everywhere is spoken a basic English that flattens the level of the conversation between individuals. The world in too many places looks the same because of a savage Westernization.

Confini Intrinseci, an exhibition of Tempio Industriale at Castello di Magliano (Cuneo - Italy)

24th -26th October 2024

In partnership with Technè Art services and GART Arte Contemporanea

Tempio Industriale participates to the Urtija festival through the creation of an exhibition in the halls of the Castello of Magliano Alfieri. The turinese artist, adhering to the theme of the festivl, wishes to explore the idea of ​​limit, a question he has already analyzed in his production in the past years. In fact, Tempio Industriale, in contrast to contemporary morality that sees the limit as a divergence to be smoothed out, celebrates differences, certainly in mutual respect, to underline the cultural peculiarities of each people. For this reason, the exhibition is entitled “Intrinsic Boundaries”, to further emphasize the diversity of each tradition, which sees in the comparison with the other the affirmation of their own identity and the constitution of a normative code to follow, also influenced by the religious sphere. The desire is to investigate the concept of katéchon which implies the fight of good against evil and the will to identify what is able to stem wickedness and injustice.

Against the nihilism and emptiness of today’s society, the artist creates works that can guarantee protection and salvation, adopting a popular style rooted in street art, immediately understandable by most people who come into contact with his production. Tempio Industriale warns against forgetting the past and one’s roots and, in this case, observes the Langhe as a fortunate example of a countryside that is rediscovering itself and that at the same time risks gentrification and having to bend to the increasingly pressing demands of tourists.

“Confini intrinseci” tells of an Italy that no longer exists, of the customs of distant countries and of popular faith, without being carried away by a melancholic streak, but putting a spotlight on contemporary society and lifestyle.

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Tempio Industriale partecipa al festival Urtija attraverso la realizzazione di un percorso espositivo nelle sale del Castello di Magliano Alfieri. L’artista torinese, attenendosi al tema della rassegna, desidera approfondire l’idea di limite, questione da lui già analizzata nella sua produzione degli anni passati. Infatti, Tempio Industriale, in controtendenza rispetto alla morale contemporanea che vede il limite come una divergenza da appianare, celebra le differenze, certamente nel rispetto reciproco, per sottolineare le peculiarità culturali di ogni popolo. Per questo la mostra si intitola “Confini intrinseci”, per rimarcare ulteriormente le diversità proprie di ogni tradizione, le quali vedono nel confronto con l’altro l’affermazione della propria identità e la costituzione di un codice normativo da seguire, influenzato anche dalla sfera religiosa. Il desiderio è quello di indagare il concetto di katéchon che implica la lotta del bene contro il male e la volontà di individuare ciò che sia in grado di arginare le malvagità e le ingiustizie.

Contro il nichilismo e la vacuità della società odierna, l’artista realizza delle opere che possano garantire protezione e salvezza, adottando uno stile popolare e radicato nella street art, immediatamente comprensibile dalla maggior parte delle persone che entreranno a contatto con la sua produzione. Tempio Industriale mette in guardia dal dimenticare il passato e le proprie radici e, in questo caso, osserva le Langhe come un esempio fortunato di una campagna che si riscopre e che contemporaneamente rischia la gentrificazione e di doversi piegare alle sempre più pressanti richieste dei turisti.

“Confini intrinseci” racconta di un’Italia che non c’è più, delle usanze di paesi lontani e della fede popolare, senza lasciarsi trascinare da una vena malinconica, ma puntando un riflettore sulla società e lo stile di vita contemporanei.

Alice Salvatico

The Tempio Industriale logo is a fusion between a church and a factory. Or rather: it is a church built on a factory. I imagined a future in which churches and factories no longer exist, but in which the need to gather and pray remained alive among people. I started from the classic stylized factory with oblique glass roofs to let the light pass and then i added a pointed roof and a rose window that remind me of the classic country churches: the factory where the grandparents worked and the churches where the grandmothers went. For me, this is the main logo of Tempio Industriale, while the other logos collected in these pages are a sort of Exercises in Style “a la Raymond Queneau”.

“Not to notice the putrefaction of the modern world is an indication of contagion" - Nicolas Gomez d’Avila, Escolios II

The pieces used for these artworks are the forgotten objects that rust in the streets of our metropolis.

A serie of pictures take in 2005 in an abandoned steel mill nearby Turin transformed into contemporary holy cards. Classic religious images integrated into a forgotten landscape that once upon a time was full of life, hopes, sweat and tears.

The potential of the collage is infinite, and allows who doesn't have proper painting skills to create imaginary landscapes and worlds with an amazing level of detail.

They say that when Pope Benedict XIV (PP. 1740-1758) was told about the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico, he exclaimed, “Non fecit taliter omni nationi.”

The Latin phrase derives from Psalm 147 and means “He has not done thus for any other nation.”

This is a serie of 34 drawings of the Virgin of Guadalupe made out of the pages of an old atlas of Mexico.

“An icon is not a simple wooden board depicting an effigy. The icon has absorbed, through innumerable generations, the waves of secret implorations, of ardent prayers, which have risen to the sky from the torn apart hearts, and all this accumulated fervor is reflected on the faces of those who pray.” Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow

Compostela, an exhibition of Tempio Industriale in the Museum of Sacred Art of Queretaro (Mexico).

24 August - 16 December 2023

In partnership with Impulso Art Gallery and Un Quadro di Te

Valerio Perino alias Tempio Industriale was born in 1982 in Turin - Italy, the city of Fiat and the Holy Shroud, a place where an industrial and religious tradition coexist.

His works are a door that opens onto a forgotten place and past.

Although he uses materials collected from abandoned spaces and based on values ​​linked to a religious and industrial tradition that is disappearing from the streets and houses, his sacred icons are extremely contemporary. The artist aims to overcome the secularization and homogenization of society through simple works, with an immediate meaning, that reflect contemporary culture and context. Tempio Industriale brings the Faith from distant populations and works with his experience and the materials he has found, maintaining his dedication and respect for all that is Sacred. The artist strives to satisfy the desire for a religious identity and give it the opportunity to care for our Spirit.

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Valerio Perino alias Tempio Industriale nació en 1982 en Turín - Italia, la ciudad de Fiat y de la Sábana Santa, un lugar donde conviven una tradición industrial y una religiosa.

Sus obras son una puerta que da a un lugar y a un pasado olvidado.

Si bien utiliza materiales recogidos de espacios abandonados y en base a valores ligados a una tradición religiosa e industrial que está desapareciendo de las calles y las casas, sus iconos sagrados son sumamente actuales. El artista pretende superar la secularización y homologación de la sociedad a través de obras sencillas, con un significado inmediato, que reflejen la cultura y el contexto contemporáneo. Tempio Industriale trae la Fe de poblaciones lejanas y trabaja con su experiencia y los materiales que ha encontrado, manteniendo su dedicación y respeto por todo lo Sagrado. El artista lucha para complacer el deseo de una identidad religiosa y darle la oportunidad de cuidar de nuestro Espíritu.

Alice Salvatico

“If the Sacred disappears, the Art disappears” Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, Barbarico

"Man cannot be the end of man. If there is nothing to rise towards, man remains devoid of substance "Nikolay Berdjaev, New Middle Ages

“I believe in Russia, in her orthodoxy. I believe in the body of Christ. I believe the new Advent will be in Russia”. The Demons – Fedor Dostoevsky

"We must abandon modernity for the kingdom of the sacred, and build our outpost there" Alexander Dugin, The fourth political theory

“What to do in the night if not affirming the possibility of light?” Alain de Benoist

It's important not to lose the good habit of thanking for a received grace.

"The benefactors of humanity are not those who invent for it colossal artifacts, but those who leave small altars" - Nicolas Gomez d’Avila

“IXIPTLA”

The war of images, five hundred years later

A project by Valerio Perino - Tempio Industriale

There is a book by Serge Gruzinski called "The War of Images", published in 1994. The French author writes about the evolution of religious figures in Mexico in the last five centuries. After the arrival of the Spaniards, it changed the way of seeing and representing the images of the pre-Hispanic gods and also the religious images of the conquerors were modified. The exchange between the two cultures was made even more difficult because the two peoples had great differences of thought and representation, which led to many misunderstandings.

In his book, the French historian introduces the concept of Ixiptla, a Nahuatl word that has traditionally been translated and considered synonymous with image and representation. Ixiptla has as its object the divine presence. Before the Conquest, it designated various manifestations of the divinity: Ixiptla are the statue of the god, the idol, the divinity that appears in a vision, the priest who represents it by covering himself with his adornments, the victim destined for sacrifice. Where the Christians looked for idols, the Indians saw ixiptla. The Franciscan evangelizers also used this word to describe the Christian icon or the image of the saint.

The lack of mutual understanding led to the destruction of idols, the creation of inappropriate and unauthorized images, accusations of blasphemy, but also to new representations and curious situations of misunderstanding that gave rise to new iconographic images.

“Ixiptla” is an artistic project created by Valerio Perino; Italian, graduated in Sociology of Religion, under the pseudonym of Tempio Industriale, is dedicated to the creation of works of contemporary sacred art. This project aims to renew the unauthorized images and misunderstandings of the post-Conquest era with a contemporary look, using current techniques. The artist's intent with his works is to meditate on these contradictions and celebrate the peculiarities of current Mexican culture, accepting the complexity of past history. These works are a celebration of the roots of Mexico.

This project is made up of more than sixty works that capture the main images that characterized this clash-encounter between cultures and worlds. Each of these works has a story of syncretism, confrontation, misunderstanding, decline, success and exchange. This exhibition wants to be a starting point for reflection about one's own identity and the identity of the other.

Shema, an exhibition of Tempio Industriale in the hermitage of Santa Catherine (Varese - Italy).

7th - 31st July 2022

In partnership with Un Quadro di Te

SHEMA. The rustle of the Spirit

If we think of a medieval pilgrim with the cloak, the staff, the wide-brimmed hat, we could hardly consider him as an effective symbol to describe today's lifestyle. Our days show the imprints of a quick step distracted by a thousand thoughts, few know how to set out, admit that they are wandering souls in foreign countries, ready to move away from the usual landscapes to discover new horizons, even interior ones.

Tempio Industriale is one of those people, he is a perennial pilgrim who knows how to walk the world and is not satisfied with the easiest solution. He flanks us, allows us to align our pace with his, slowest and most meditative one, he helps us to look around us to discover what we have abandoned along the way, which goal we have lost sight of. And are precisely the fragments that we discard every day that attract him and activate his creative process, demonstrating an extreme awareness for each smallest piece and, consequently, for our life. He bends down, collects bolts, screws, washers, nuts, iron wires and razor blades, he combines them with crucifixes, Orthodox icons, statuettes of the Holy Mary and angels and renews their existence. He does not get a random jumble, but a harmonious set of elements that enhance each other without distorting themselves and that, on the contrary, are consequently enriched with new and pregnant meanings linked to the tangible and divine level.

The artist places the religious representation in a privileged position, surrounded and protected by recovered materials. The composition is simple, made with few elements, just to condense the highest Mystery. What the eye perceives is a refined structure, as only the essential can be. Our gaze is directed towards the center of the work to ensure that it carefully observes these modern icons. They are so bare also because they ask us to reject the dull spiritual art which we are used to, which appeals to ephemeral forms and even more ephemeral values. Tempio Industriale protests against the appeasement society, which forces us to abandon local traditions in favor of an insignificant social and religious homologation. For this, he inserts golden bullets, toy soldiers, tear gas canisters or bloodstains into his works.

Yet, this is not enough, we must take a further step back to underline a strong detachment from the West and to return to it powerfully regenerated. The Piedmontese artist uses stylistic features of a clear Christian matrix that refer to the traditions of Eastern Europe. For this reason, the use of the icon around which the industrial elements revolve is so fundamental and substantial for Tempio Industriale. He creates a harmonious background, made up of industrial or everyday elements, often gilded, that recall to our mind Byzantine mosaics and medieval altarpieces. To make his message understood in every part of the world, the artist adds prayers and invocations in different languages. Matter rises to a transcendent dimension, but the industrial element allows us to remain deeply anchored to reality. Before our eyes we contemplate immanent icons, inherent in the mechanics of everyday life, which force us to an eschatological reflection and which apply to be a bridge capable of crossing the abyss that divides the known reality and the divine plan. In these images we find authentic travel companions. They are with us, they indicate a way, they support all the important moments of our existence. The location of each artwork, in fact, whether in homes, along the streets or in places linked to worship, is an integral part of the poetics of Tempio Industriale and completes and transmits its meaning. It is not enough to be in a sanctuary, but there is the essential need to occupy an intimate corner in the houses and to go along the roads of the world.

We contemplate and meditate. We are transfigured into modern pilgrims, we raise our eyes from the road, we focus on a new path and we find a real goal. Only arriving at the end of the journey we realize what we have collected from the ground, what we have internalized and which moments will remain forever engraved in our consciousness. "Where are you going?" The icons whisper to those who listen to their rustle. We hope to answer that yes, we left, we have embarked on a journey. Now we just have to continue on this path.

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Se pensiamo a un pellegrino medievale con il mantello, il bordone, il cappello a larghe falde, difficilmente potremmo considerarlo un simbolo efficace per descrivere lo stile di vita odierno. Le nostre giornate mostrano le impronte di un passo veloce e distratto da mille pensieri. Pochi sanno mettersi in cammino, ammettere di essere anime erranti in paesi stranieri, pronti ad allontanarsi dai soliti panorami per scoprire orizzonti nuovi, anche interiori.

Tempio Industriale è una di quelle persone, è un perenne pellegrino che sa camminare per il mondo e non si accontenta della soluzione più semplice. Ci affianca, ci permette di allineare il nostro incedere al suo più lento e meditativo, ci aiuta a guardarci intorno per scoprire cosa abbiamo abbandonato lungo la strada, quale meta abbiamo perso di vista. E sono proprio i frammenti che ogni giorno scartiamo ad attirarlo e ad attivare il suo processo creativo, dimostrando un’estrema sensibilità per ogni più piccolo pezzo e, di riflesso, per la nostra vita. Si china, raccoglie bulloni, viti, rondelle, dadi, fili di ferro e lamette, li combina con crocifissi, icone ortodosse, statuette di Madonne e angeli e ne rinnova l’esistenza.  Non ottiene un’accozzaglia casuale, ma un insieme armonioso di elementi che si valorizzano l’uno con l’altro senza snaturarsi e che, anzi, si arricchiscono di conseguenza di nuovi e pregnanti significati legati al piano tangibile e al piano divino.

L’artista pone la raffigurazione religiosa in una posizione privilegiata, circondata e protetta dai materiali recuperati. La composizione è semplice, realizzata con pochi elementi, proprio per condensare il più alto Mistero. Quello che l’occhio percepisce è una struttura raffinata, come solo può essere l’essenziale. Il nostro sguardo è convogliato verso il centro dell’opera per far sì che osservi con attenzione queste moderne icone. Esse sono così scarne anche perché chiedono di rifiutare la scialba arte spirituale alla quale siamo abituati, che si appella a forme effimere e ancora più effimeri valori. Tempio Industriale protesta contro la società dell’appeasement, che impone di abbandonare le tradizioni locali in favore di un’insignificante omologazione a livello sociale e religioso. Per questo, inserisce nelle sue opere proiettili dorati, soldatini, candelotti lacrimogeni.

Eppure, questo non basta, dobbiamo fare un ulteriore passo indietro per sottolineare un forte distacco dall’Occidente e per tornare in esso prepotentemente rinnovati. L’artista piemontese sfrutta stilemi di chiara matrice cristiana che si rifanno alle tradizioni dell’est Europa. Per questo, l’utilizzo dell’icona intorno alla quale ruotano gli elementi industriali è per Tempio Industriale così fondamentale e sostanziale. Egli crea un fondo armonico, composto da elementi industriali o quotidiani spesso dorati che richiamano alla nostra mente mosaici bizantini e tavole medievali. Per far comprendere il suo messaggio in ogni parte del mondo, l’artista aggiunge preghiere e invocazioni in lingue diverse. La materia si eleva fino a giungere a una dimensione trascendente, ma l’elemento industriale permette di restare profondamente ancorati alla realtà. Davanti ai nostri occhi contempliamo delle icone immanenti, insite nelle meccaniche della vita di ogni giorno. Esse ci costringono a una riflessione escatologica e si propongono come un ponte in grado di attraversare il baratro che divide la realtà conosciuta e il piano divino. In queste immagini troviamo autentiche compagne[1] di viaggio. Stanno con noi, indicano una via, accompagnano tutti i momenti importanti della nostra esistenza. La collocazione di ogni opera, infatti, che sia nelle case, lungo le strade o in luoghi legati al culto, è parte integrante della poetica di Tempio Industriale e ne completa e trasmette il senso. Non basta trovarsi in un santuario, ma si avverte la fondamentale esigenza di occupare uno spazio intimo nelle case e di spingersi lungo le strade del mondo.

Contempliamo e meditiamo. Siamo trasfigurati in moderni pellegrini, alziamo gli occhi dalla via, li fissiamo su un nuovo percorso e ritroviamo una vera meta. Solo arrivando alla fine del viaggio ci rendiamo conto di ciò che abbiamo raccolto da terra, che cosa abbiamo interiorizzato e quali momenti rimarranno per sempre incisi nella coscienza. “Dove vai?" Sussurrano le icone a chi ascolta il loro fruscio. Speriamo di rispondere che sì, siamo usciti, abbiamo intrapreso un cammino. Ora non resta che continuare su questa strada.

Alice Salvatico

Museo Diocesano di Cortemilia (Cuneo - Italy) - a.D. 2021

This art installation was selected for the project Think Big! and presented at the 2020 edition of the art fair Paratissima in Turin (Italy). to know more

We live in an increasingly secularized and desacralized society where materialism dominates our lives. Faith, religions and popular traditions are often considered an outdated legacy of the past. Tempio Industriale: Libera nos a societate spectaculi (Industrial Temple – Free us from the society of the spectacle) is an installation that represents an imaginary spiritual refuge from the moral decadence of contemporary Western society, a place for those who believe that there is something beyond the dimension of the visible. This temple is a personal chapel where are gathered modern ex votos of people that try to survive the society of the spectacle and who express a prayer for a grace received. The low value and simplicity of the materials used denounce the emptiness of the products of our society which in short time transforms everything into garbage, since a new product must replace the previous one. The altars collected in this installation want to celebrate the popular faith that resists in the materialistic society.

2017-2019

A selection of the first artworks of Tempio Industriale

Before the coming of Tempio Industriale, existed the Ordine Industriale, its predecessor. Between 2004 and 2010 The Industrial Order was a group of friends with whom I went to visit the large abandoned factories left to rot on the outskirts of our city.

We were going there almost every Sunday, when others were going to church, to the mall, or to the stadium. We were celebrating the Sunday ritual of urban exploration: we strolled through the bare and dusty corridors, ate a frugal meal on the abandoned roofs, drank hot tea in the courtyards covered in wild vegetation, looked for old objects to collect.