Mazzoleni showcases We Rise by Lifting Others (2023) by Marinella Senatore at Art Basel Unlimited 2025. Renowned for her large-scale light sculptures, or luminarie, Senatore unveils a 34-metre-long installation, first presented at NOOR Festival Riyadh under Jérôme Sans’ curation. Reimagined for Art Basel, this iteration features a refreshed palette and new textual messages.
Marinella Senatore (born in Cava de’ Tirreni, 1977) is a multidisciplinary artist with a background in music, fine arts, and cinema. In 2012, she founded The School of Narrative Dance (SOND), a nomadic, free, non-hierarchical educational initiative that promotes alternative systems of learning focused on empowerment and self-education.
Senatore’s works have been commissioned and exhibited by prestigious institutions worldwide, including the Hayward Gallery, London; Vatican, Rome; Noor, Riyadh; FORMAT Festival, Arkansas; Museo del Novecento, Milan; Serpentine Gallery, London; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and Berlinische Galerie, Berlin.
Illuminated
Rooted in community dialogue, We Rise by Lifting Others holds profound significance. The sculpture’s illuminated phrases – “We Rise by Lifting Others” (attributed to American lawyer and orator Robert G. Ingersoll) and “I Contain Multitudes” (from Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself)– were initially chosen by female inmates in Florence and residents of disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Naples, respectively. By recontextualising these statements, Senatore bridges social divides, reinforcing her commitment to uniting communities through art.
Senatore’s practice interweaves collective rituals, public engagement, and the transformative power of community. Her work merges historical tradition with contemporary discourse, reinterpreting the Baroque-era use of ephemeral architectural displays as a form of storytelling and social commentary. “Luminarie are like ethereal architectural structures that can build the idea of the plaza even when this plaza doesn’t exist,” Senatore reflects. Like their 17th-century counterparts, her installations are often located in public spaces. Yet, by relocating this communal form into the context of an art fair, We Rise By Lifting Others encourages audiences to reconsider the space as one of connection, dialogue and shared experience.
With this presentation at Art Basel Unlimited, Senatore establishes her status as one of the prominent artists of her generation, working at the intersection of community, activism and contemporary visual arts. Her ability to transform historic tradition into dynamic, participatory experiences ensures her work remains both visually striking and socially resonant – a beacon of light, both literal and metaphorical – in an increasingly divided world.
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