Ennio Calabria's Rome Exhibition Explores Technology and Human Mutation
An extensive exhibition featuring Ennio Calabria, who was born in Tripoli in 1937, has launched in Rome, under the curation of Gabriele Simongini. The showcase includes approximately eighty pieces created with oil, acrylic, and pastel, alongside twelve original posters from Calabria's personal collection. Sponsored by Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Internazionale and backed by Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele, the exhibition explores Calabria's six-decade career in reverse, focusing on his relationship with technology. His latest works challenge the notion of technology as a potential enslavement of humanity, differentiating between progress and evolution. Calabria also critiques the effects of social media on identity, perceiving younger generations as a transformation of subjectivity. The exhibition features works from 2018, reflecting Calabria's ongoing artistic journey.
Key facts
- Ennio Calabria was born in Tripoli in 1937.
- The exhibition in Rome is curated by Gabriele Simongini.
- It includes about eighty works of various formats and twelve original posters.
- The show is promoted by Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Internazionale and realized by POEMA with support from Civita Mostre.
- Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele strongly supported the exhibition.
- Calabria's recent works incorporate electronic devices, exploring technology's impact on humanity.
- The exhibition reverses chronological order, starting with recent works and moving to earlier ones.
- Many exhibited works were painted in 2018.
- Calabria distinguishes between progress (visible) and evolution (mysterious).
- He critiques 'presentism' and the loss of selective tools in contemporary society.
- Calabria sees young people as the first signs of a mutation where subjectivity becomes a new structure.
- The artist wrote some texts that appear in the exhibition captions.
- The exhibition includes a selection of twelve original posters from a collection of over ninety pieces.
- Calabria has been painting for sixty years.
- In the 1960s, he was associated with political opposition and faced disagreements with painter Renato Guttuso.
- Marco Bussagli and Ida Mitrano contributed texts to the catalog.
- The exhibition aims to show the power of Calabria's current painting, not as a closed chapter.
Entities
Artists
- Ennio Calabria
- Gabriele Simongini
- Renato Guttuso
- Marco Bussagli
- Ida Mitrano
- Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele
- Donatella Giordano
Institutions
- Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Internazionale
- POEMA
- Civita Mostre
- Artribune
Locations
- Rome
- Italy
- Tripoli
- Libya