Five Contemporary Artists Channel Magical Realism at Francesca Antonini in Rome

Curated by Gaia Bobò, the group show 'Dopo le sei di sera. Derive del realismo magico' at Francesca Antonini Arte Contemporanea in Rome presents works by Alessia Armeni, Luca Rubegni, Anne Buckwalter, Dario Carratta, and Ruoxi Jin. The title references the gallery's 1960s invitation phrase for opening hours, now repurposed to evoke a crepuscular moment when spaces lose functional definition. Rather than a nostalgic return to the historical Magical Realism theorized by Franz Roh in 1925, the exhibition explores contemporary deviations—a sensibility that treats reality as slightly altered. The installation works through harmonies rather than juxtapositions: Armeni's rarefied architectures (b. Rome, 1975) converse with Rubegni's metaphysical figures (b. Rome, 1993), while Buckwalter's uneasy interiors (b. Lancaster, PA, 1987) and Carratta's scenes (b. Gallipoli, 1988) share a perturbing frequency. Jin (b. Harbin, China, 1997) contributes a site-specific intervention with two windows set into architectural niches, hinting at an unknown elsewhere. The exhibition runs until July 24 at Via di Capo le Case, 4.