Anna Galtarossa's 'Cometa' installed in Palazzo Maffei's helical staircase

Anna Galtarossa (Verona, 1975) created 'Cometa,' a 13-meter-long suspended sculpture made from recycled materials, fabrics, and everyday objects, for the helical staircase of Palazzo Maffei in Verona, headquarters of Fondazione Carlon. The colorful work rotates counterclockwise, touching the Flora sculpture on the ground floor, and is accompanied by a soundscape by Oscar-winning artist Nicolas Becker. The site-specific installation continues the museum's concept of dialogue between ancient and contemporary art, initiated since its reopening in 2021. The museum, housed in Verona's oldest Baroque palace (architect unknown), holds the Luigi Carlon collection of 700 works, including a 4,000-year-old Egyptian funerary boat. Vanessa Carlon, director of Palazzo Maffei and vice president of Fondazione Carlon, stated that the invitation was extended to a young female artist with an international horizon. Galtarossa, who completed a residency at the palace, incorporated a shirt once owned by Luigi Carlon into the comet as a tribute to the collector. The work addresses contemporary themes and symbolizes continuity between past and future. Curator Andrea Lissoni, artistic director of Haus der Kunst in Munich, described the piece as 'a monument of the present' that opens to hypotheses and ancestral games, calling it 'an invitation to believe again in imagination.'