Bernardo Siciliano Returns to Rome with 'Funny Games' at Spazio Treccani Arte

Bernardo Siciliano's solo exhibition 'Funny Games', curated by Giuseppe Armogida, is on view until October 30 at Spazio Treccani Arte in Palazzo Mattei di Paganica, Rome. The show marks Siciliano's return to exhibiting in Rome after nearly thirty years in New York. The paintings depict seemingly ordinary scenes—a swimming pool, a set table, a family, a group laughing—that are subtly unsettling, with violence implied just outside the frame. Siciliano, who grew up surrounded by cinema through his godfather Bernardo Bertolucci and family friend Elio Petri, and whose father was writer Enzo Siciliano, cites Michael Haneke's film 'Funny Games' as a key reference. The exhibition includes works such as 'La guerra' (2024–2026), 'Gummies' (2025–2026), 'Thanksgiving' (2022–2026), 'The Heat Wave' (2026), and 'A bad dream' (2025). In an interview with Giuditta Elettra Lavinia Nidiaci, Siciliano discusses Rome as a city of memory, his thirty years in New York where he taught at the New York Academy of Art, and his belief that 'painting must always alter' the image. He also mentions that a painting of his daughter, 'The Social Network' (2017), was acquired by Alessandro Michele for Maison Valentino and placed in the brand's meeting room. The show runs through October 30.