I spent the summer of 2021 in Rome, trying to visit almost all the art galleries in the city. As it was a period without tourists due to the pandemic, it was way easier not only to visit them almost alone inside the space, but it was easier to talk with the gallerists, learn about the artists and curators they support, and collaborate. I chose three of those galleries that impressed me not only due to the quality of their work, artists, and curators but also due to the quality of their research and the way they welcome the public and educate them about what they do in general and what they exhibit currently.
I would strongly advise you to visit them if you have the opportunity or just visit their websites to learn more about their work. Of course, there are plenty more worthwhile contemporary art galleries to visit in Rome, but I took into consideration that many people usually take small trips there for three to four days, so they are representative of very different approaches, concepts, and philosophies that an art gallery may adopt as a main idea behind their work.
1. Ex-Elettrofonica
The gallery Ex-Elettrofonica is a space run by Benedetta Acciari e Beatrice Bertibi from 2009, their work is supported by continuous research and remarkable collaborations. They are concentrated on artists with heterogeneous backgrounds, but they see art as a process and treat themes like climate change, and political and social identity.
What makes this gallery unique is the architectural form that looks like a cell or even a cave. The purpose of this form is to alternate the architectural concept of the exhibition space and create an interactive dialogue between visual arts and architecture. It is a space that transforms respect to the artworks that are exhibited inside.
My visit to Ex-Elettrofonica some years ago was an extraordinary experience. The gallerist very politely opened the door and gave me an educative tour of the exhibition ongoing back then Ri0 a solo exhibition by the artist Davide D’Elia, curated by Elisa Del Prete which also details the purpose of the gallery. Walking through the exhibition I felt like going underwater and then taking a sunbath in the landfall.
It is situated in Vicolo Sant’Onofrio 10, it’s a walking distance (at least for me)from San Pietro, there is an uphill to walk, but it is totally worth it to visit Ex-Elettrofonica. In the photo below you can see a general view of the space and the exhibition.
To learn more about the gallery and the current exhibitions visit their website
http://www.exelettrofonica.com/en/the-gallery/
2. Mucciaccia Gallery Modern & Contemporary Art Gallery
Mucciaccia Gallery was founded in 2006 by Massimiliano Mucciaccia, being influenced by the environment he grew up in, full of gallerists, curators, and artists. Growing, the gallery expanded in Cortina d’ Ampezzo, Singapore, London, and New York. Through noticeable collaborations with art critics and curators support Italian and international artists of the 21st century, with a specific interest in those who search for new languages. But the expansion of this gallery led to the foundation of Mucciccia Contemporary situated in Rome by Giulia Abate in 2017. Concentrate on artists who try to tell the story of our days through various art forms and give space also to hybrid languages.
On the first day of my tour gallery in Rome, I started walking, having in mind that I will enter the gallery and that it will give me a good positive feeling. That was Mucciaccia Contemporary having a group show in American perspectives in painting with the title “Now You See You”. Two amazing women welcomed me, they explained to me the general idea of the exhibition and left me in peace to enjoy and interpret my view of the colourful amazing paintings with a sense of pop art and surrealism. Leaving the gallery they suggest I visit their other site in walking distance (at least for me and them) the main Mucciaccia Gallery where they were hosting the group exhibition Colour Space presenting the artists David Batchelor, Ian Davenport, Lothar Götz, Jim Lambie, Annie Morris, Fiona Rae, curated by Catherine Loewe. Entering there the ladies in the reception were quiet, they politely greeted me with a heads move and a slight smile, I walked through the exhibition by myself surrounded by happy colours, illusions and silence. There I discovered the artist Annie Morris who I should say had an impact on my mentality for life, a colourful artwork but calm, a sensitive material but resistant. Qualities are what we need in life. Before leaving the gallery I asked the receptionist for some more details about specific artworks and very politely offered me the catalogue and asked me if I would like to book an appointment with the gallerist.
In the photo below the emblematic sculpture was installed by the artist Annie Morris from the group exhibition Colour Space in 2021 in Mucciccia Gallery.
The Mucciaccia Gallery is situated in Via Laurina, 31, and the Mucciaccia Contemporary in Via della Fontanella di Borghese, 89, and walking distance between the two spaces. To learn more about the galleries visit their websites:
https://mucciaccia.com/it/ https://mucciacciacontemporary.com/it/.
3. Monitor
Monitor gallery was founded by Paola Capata and opened its first space in Rome in 2003. Later on, expanded and opened further locations. In 2014 in New York a space that has a residential character, in 2017 in Lisbon which has a curatorial based function, and in 2019 another one in Italy in Pareto. Monitor is an experimental space for emerging artists, open to all kinds of art forms, with a tendency to reinterpret classical forms in a contemporary context.
I visited the Monitor Gallery because I had discovered a young artist, Lucia Cantò, whom I wanted absolutely to see her work as it was giving me vibes of something strong and out of the norm. When I managed to reach there my feeling came true and I entered a place where something original happened there. Reaching this gallery though was an adventure!! I used google maps but I got lost, for sure you need a bottle of water with you if it is summer, or use a taxi or public transport, I try to avoid them but sometimes as I have bad orientation it’s the best option. I was there after almost an hour of walking from Castello degli Angeli. I was there, but where? The vitro outside of the space did not allow me to see inside so I could directly understand “Oh that’s the gallery”, so I just said enter the door that is in front of you… So I entered the gallery and before managing to say “Ηi” in the reception I threw my cell phone down, almost destroying an artwork, a small installation of butterflies staged on the floor… Thank God they were metallic and nothing happened… I still want to buy that small installation. The intern who was working there at the moment was extremely polite and helped me to collect my broken cell phone, so I could at least take two photos… and explained to me the exhibition and the process of the artist, as she gave me directions to explore more of the galleries projects.
In the photograph below you can see a general view of the installation Atti certi per corpi fragili, of the solo show exhibition Ai Terzi of the artist Lucia Canto at Monitor in 2021.
The Monitor Gallery in Rome is situated in Via degli Aurunci 44, 46, 48. To learn more about the gallery and the current exhibitions visit their website https://www.monitoronline.org/
