Varsi Art&Lab presents “Metamask” the new solo exhibition of the Roman collective Sbagliato.
Architectural elements have always been the basis of Sbagliato’s visual research. The same concept applies to this artwork, which takes its cue from a series of elements belonging to the National Roman Museum of the Baths of Diocletian, and in particular from three masks located in the cloister of S. Maria degli Angeli, more commonly known as the Michelangelo cloister. The artists superimpose these masks with the intention of merging the various characters or personalities of the ancient theater.
Sbagliato’s aim is to dialogue with our cultural tradition, and to analyze and reinvent it, thus making it their own. This creative transmission process involves a series of operations that wish to enhance the enormous and priceless artistic heritage Italians have inherited. Their intent is also to draw new generations to it, making it accessible to the general public.
Sbagliato presents a series of ten unique pieces, created in collaboration with Arturo Amitrano (56 Fili screen printing lab) and Galleria Varsi. The use of the masks from the Museum of the Baths of Diocletian is a reference to a major theme in the contemporary world: in our complex and stratified society, it seems to be necessary to wear a thousand faces in order to live with others, but above all with oneself. In his work, Luigi Pirandello, the great master of psychological relativism, reminded us admirably of this notion.
In addition to the ten screen prints, Sbagliato is presenting a real sculpture, made from a three-dimensional scan of the three masks. In this manner, the artists obtain volumetric restitution of the three objects, which converge in a single work composed of fragments of the three masks, using the same approach as the screen prints.
The presentation of the works is accompanied by a sound installation based on the concepts of masks, theater, and sampling, this time not related to architecture, but to sound.
The mask is a powerful metaphor for the link between art and psychology, of the condition of the postmodern man who lives in a society governed by laws, conventions, and habits independent from his will, and to which he must always try to adapt. In our society, we can no longer afford to wear only one mask at a time, we need several together.
A series of unique artworks made in collaboration with 56Fili within Varsi’s workshop.
October 26th / Opening
6-10 pm
October 27th
12-8 pm
Forte Antenne
Via del Forte Antenne 12
Rome