Gianluigi Toccafondo Retrospective Draws 6,000 Visitors in Modena

The largest retrospective of Gianluigi Toccafondo (San Marino, 1965) opened in April at the Galleria Civica di Modena, housed in the Palazzina dei Giardini. Curated by Daniele De Luigi, the exhibition spans five rooms of the ducal building and features approximately 1,000 works spanning from 1989 to the present. Toccafondo, described as a "poet of the image," works with moving images, creating sequences from existing illustrations, photographs, or film footage, reimagined with irony and visionary flair. A site-specific installation produced with writer Ugo Cornia includes Cornia's unpublished stories, notably "Favola del gattino che voleva diventare il gatto con gli stivali," which inspired a leporello artist's book and prints on a drum beneath the Palazzina's dome, allowing circular reading. Toccafondo donated the original installation drawings to the Galleria Civica's drawing collection. In 2009, he created a digital fresco dedicated to Antonio Delfini, visible at Palazzo Santa Margherita. The exhibition has attracted nearly 6,000 visitors within two months.