The regenerative power of water, letters as a recurring visual texture, suggestive tears in glass containing a mirroring liquid. There is all the dense and prolific artistic and expressive universe of Enrico Benetta in Aqua Virgo, the exhibition curated by critic Gabriele Simongini that is first and foremost a tribute to water and its multiple meanings. It is exhibitedOn the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Galleria Russo in
Rome celebrates the greatest playwright of all time with the exhibition Shakespeare in Rome, a contemporary homage to his genius and the influence he still exerts on artistic languages. The exhibition, curated by Maria Cecilia Vilches Riopedre and featuring an essay in the catalogue by the British journalist and critic Andrew Dickson, is sponsored by the British Council in Italy (the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations) and is part of the of the wider Shakespeare Lives project: a global annual programme of events and activities to celebrate the influence of William Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his death, in collaboration
of his death, in collaboration with GREAT Britain campaign partners.
The works of seven young artists – Enrico Benetta, Diego Cerero Molina, Roberta Coni,
Manuel Felisi, Michael Gambino, Massimo Giannoni and Tommaso Ottieri – who bring works to life, places, atmospheres and characters of William Shakespeare through an unprecedented and original. Benetta pays homage to The Merchant of Venice with a site-specific installation that exalts the dramatic nature of Shakespeare’s writings through the colours of black and red; the ambivalent nature of man, ambition, the subtle difference between good and evil and between life and death are evoked instead in the two works by artist Diego Cerero Molina, while Roberta Coni presents three portraits depicting the most famous heroines of Shakespeare’s plays, Lady Macbeth, Juliet and Ophelia.
Inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Manuel Felisi’s mixed media vertigo on canvas in which layers of floral ornaments and letters merge with the final photograph to recreate a romantic and dreamy atmosphere while Michael Gambino interprets Shakespeare and his works in his poetic compositions of butterflies and books, adding to the exhibits an portrait of the playwright; an unseen William Shakespeare then appears among the masses of books and volumes of one of Massimo Giannoni’s characteristic bookcases; Tommaso Ottieri is finally present with two large interiors of the Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires set up with the scenography
of The Tempest and two new compositions inspired by the figures of Lady Macbeth and Yorick.
