Strati

The group exhibition “STRATI” (Layers), held from June 6 to 24, 2024, at Spazio Manifesta in Rome, presents a “micro-linguistic journey” through the historical and cultural layers of the Eternal City. Curated by AA+, the show features three artists who each narrate a fragment of Rome’s complex identity.

Spotlight: Tommaso Fagioli

Fagioli’s contribution delves into the “magmatic core” of Rome by exploring the concept of cults through a lens of lucid irony and a pop aesthetic. His work juxtaposes the sacred with the profane to highlight the clashes within human history and our confrontation with death.

• Sacred Shrines: Fagioli updates the imagery of traditional aedicules (small shrines) using mass-consumer products. His “Centrale del Latte” shrine features a Byzantine Madonna and Child icon “suffocated” by 77 UHT milk cartons. Similarly, his “Solvay” shrine places an Annunciation icon within a pyramid of 60 bicarbonate packs.

• Oracular Skullptures: These works involve animal skulls (bulls and horses) that undergo a process of skinning and are then finished with garish automotive spray paints. This technique transforms disturbing symbols of ancient tribal or Greek cults into playful, aesthetically pleasing objects of the contemporary world.

Other Contributing Artists

The exhibition is completed by the works of two other artists who explore different “strata” of the city:

• Edoardo Servadio: Focuses on the topography and heraldry of Roman districts, reinterpreting traditional coat-of-arms with a contemporary, formal dryness.

• Alice Papi: Explores the mythological and woodland cults of Rome, such as the She-wolf, through dreamlike oil paintings of sacred forests