Pietro Antolini Turns a Former Workshop into an Underwater Wunderkammer

Yellow Submarine – The Sea in Black and White

Pietro Antolini presents Yellow Submarine – The Sea in Black and White, a site-specific exhibition curated by Tristana Chinni at 5/C LAB in Bologna. The opening is scheduled for 12 April 2026 at 18:00 and the show runs until 23 April 2026.

What to see

The installation converts the former workshop of turner Orlando Martello into an underwater Wunderkammer: artist books, paper sculptures and imagined creatures surface among historic machines and the studio's yellow floors. Notable is Murena (2018), the only color pop-up that introduces the central series The Sea in Black and White, started in 2019 and comprising eleven accordion books and sculptural works.

Materials and approach

Antolini works on calcographic paper treated with oil, wax and pigments, creating layered, lived surfaces. His process blends mixed techniques: cutting with scissors or tearing precedes drawing, which emerges in the final phase as deep incisions. The work weaves mythic marine imagery and precise formal research with an environmental reflection—white indicating loss and black suggesting threat.

Practical information

• Dates: 12/04/2026 – 23/04/2026
• Venue: 5/C LAB, Bologna
• Opening: 12 April 2026, 18:00
• Visiting hours: Monday 13 April to Saturday 18 April, 18:00–20:00; other days by appointment
• Admission: free
• Curator: Tristana Chinni

About the artist

Pietro Antolini, born in Sassuolo in 1973 and based in Bologna, trained as a restorer of frescoes and gilded furnishings—a background that shapes his artistic practice. Alongside his studio work, he is active as an environmental educator. His pieces have been shown in solo and group exhibitions and at festivals dedicated to the artist's book, exploring the interplay between fragile materials and visual memory.

Why visit

The exhibition is a compelling example of site-specific practice that merges narrative, craft and ecological concern. It reveals how paper and manual techniques can materially address ecosystem fragility while highlighting the slow, attentive gestures of contemporary artistic making.