IL MAZZO DEI TAROCCHI CANEMORTO / CARDS BOX

CANEMORTO is a trio of anonymous Italian artists. Active since 2007, over the years the trio has produced works all around Europe with a multidisciplinary approach, distinguished by his raw and brutal “six-handed” style. CANEMORTO's imagery mixes the language of graffiti with the cult of an evil deity called Txakurra, who influences the works and choices of the group. CANEMORTO has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions at Studio Cromie (Grottaglie, IT), Kapow (Gent, BE), Altrove Gallery (Catanzaro, IT), Viafarini (Milan, IT) and has participated in group exhibitions, performances and screenings in galleries and institutions including Artmossphere Biennale (Moscow, RU), MARCA (Museum of the Arts of Catanzaro,IT), Museum of Follia (Lucca, IT), Triennale (Milan, IT), Ethnographic Museum of Friuli (Udine, IT), Galleria Varsi (Rome, IT), Palazzo Fazzari (Catanzaro, IT), Encore (Brussels, BE), USF Verftet (Bergen, NO), Ex Dogana (Rome, IT), Above Second Gallery (Hong Kong, HK), V9 Gallery (Warszawa, PL), Urban Spree (Berlin, GE), TOLK Gallery (Nizhny Novgorod, RU) and FIFTY24MX Gallery (Mexico City, MX).  “One in three” is how the group that has taken the name CANEMORTO defines itself. They are a hybrid that is difficult to define, lurking in ambiguity, and from this, they take their force: by being composed of three souls, contrary to every label and classification, constrained by anonymity and always moving between the capitals of Europe and the outer peripheries, they are a creature fought over by gallery owners and law enforcement, positioned halfway between legality and lawlessness, with one foot inside the system of art, and the other well-anchored outside it. Involved in the field of official art, and before that, in the art of the street, they transpose their poetics and iconography from one medium to another, depending on the context, with the knowledge to operate in the larger world of art and not just a subculture. Text by Elisa Fusi Ph. credit: Ivan Cazzola

Paola Pompili (SHE.LAB) is an Art Director and Graphic Designer working for major communication agencies and publishing companies; she has been collaborating with Varsi since its opening and is in charge of the graphic and editorial image of the gallery. Her love and knowledge of paper is at the basis of all her creations; recently she has combined her various skills to set up an artisan bookbinding activity related to her editorial projects. SHE.LAB creates her works by combining her passion for graphic art and publishing in editorial projects which involve different printing techniques, hand-made bindings and a careful selection of paper. Every element that shapes the final product is specifically designed to express the work of the artist at its best.