Stefano Simontacchi unveils 'portal' to self-discovery at Abu Dhabi exhibitions

Italian artist is staging two shows of his works at Bassam Freiha Art Foundation

Stefano Simontacchi, also known as The Prism, with one of his works at Bassam Freiha Art Foundation. Victor Besa / The National

The Bassam Freiha Art Foundation is hosting two exhibitions dedicated to the work of Stefano Simontacchi, the Italian artist who goes by the name The Prism.

Project Oneness, and Trust, Gratitude and Love Journey both feature the large circular works that have come to define Simontacchi’s output. All the pieces feature patterns and vibrant hues printed on polished surfaces, but there is an individual quality to each of the artworks, or as Simontacchi prefers to call them, portals.

“I call them portals, not artworks,” he says. “The idea is they are portals that give the opportunity to the one who is in front of them to go beyond, to understand themselves better, to love themselves more.”

The first exhibition, Project Oneness, aims to encompass such a journey of self-discovery, Simontacchi says. Displayed in the building's main space, the exhibition features illuminated panels and reflective surfaces that incorporate the surroundings, as well as the viewer, within the works.

It begins with a collection of works with a vertical line superimposed in the centre of each circle. This line, Simontacchi says, represents duality, with all that concept’s equivocal meanings. “The idea is to go beyond duality” as the exhibition progresses, he says, reflecting on a journey towards “oneness”.

The Prism: Project Oneness is divided across multiple spaces that are accessible through circular doorways, much like the works. Victor Besa / The National

Each of the circles delineates an experience, Simontacchi says. “The colour of the circle has meaning. The red means a sacred experience. The blue is a cosmic colour.”

The patterns also have a symbolic resonance, he adds. The concentric circles of entangled lines, for instance, are “the energy that moves in the cosmos”. Then there are patterns that allude to mental projections and the dualities that weigh on perceptions: “the rationality that divides the world in good and bad, right and wrong”.

Simontacchi says his art is “channelled”, explaining: “I meditate and then I see it.” He views his work as a natural progression after “30 years of spirituality”. When he first started making art more than a decade ago, he only produced works for friends and close acquaintances. The art, he says, was often made to help them overcome personal challenges.

Some of his claims could be qualified as eccentric, though. “Maybe a friend was telling me that their wife was not succeeding in getting pregnant,” he says. “I enter into mediation. I see a design. I make it on canvas or on paper. I give it. She meditates on it. Pregnant.”

In 2023, Simontacchi decided to present his works in public and exhibited in a former bank headquarters near Milan’s Piazza Affari. Since then, he has exhibited in Florence, New York and at last year’s Abu Dhabi Art.

Simontacchi says he hopes the works help viewers to get in touch with themselves. Victor Besa / The National

“I decided to go public after realising the art was the way I wanted,” Simontacchi says. Some of the works incorporate unique technology and have patents pending, he adds. His illuminated circles, for instance, are “the first light box ever made without a frame, so you see a sort of an aura. It’s very expensive and complicated to produce.”

Later works in the first exhibition are inspired by the four primordial elements. The final work is a circular design on the glass wall of the space that looks towards the sky. “Because the best piece of art was done not by an artist, but the universe, the creator, God,” Simontacchi says.

The second exhibition – Trust, Gratitude and Love Journey – is being held in the foundation’s annexe space and is an extension of the works in the main building.

A second exhibition, titled Trust, Gratitude and Love Journey, is in the foundation's annexe space. Victor Besa /The National

The artworks aim to instil an awareness and appreciation for what life has to offer, Simontacchi says. “We need to live with a disposal of gratitude towards life with trust and acting with love,” he says. Like the rest of Simontacchi’s works, these pieces are meant to be viewed from varying distances. For one work, which features a misted design, Simontacchi encourages viewers to get so close that their nose is almost touching it so their reflection finally becomes defined. With other works, he suggests viewers move away to see the overarching pattern.

Simontacchi says he is thrilled to present works at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation, particularly because the building’s architecture reflects light and space in much the same way he does. “I love this place. I work a lot with the elements, and this museum has all the elements, because there are these small dots,” he says, pointing to the designs on the exterior wall. “They filter light and are similar to my dots.”

As part of the exhibition, the foundation is hosting a series of community wellness yoga and sound healing sessions that are free to attend. The sound healing sessions will incorporate techniques to relieve stress and anxiety while improving mood and concentration. The yoga sessions will encompass breathwork and meditation, and offer a novel way of engaging with Simontacchi’s art.

The Prism's two exhibitions are running at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, until August 31