Luca Massaro and Giuseppe Chiari in Dialogue at Viasaterna, Milan

A neon sign reading 'La Notte' by Luca Massaro (Reggio Emilia, 1991) recently appeared on the rooftop of a Milanese building near Parco Sempione, inviting visitors to the gallery Viasaterna on the ground floor. The exhibition, titled 'Duetto,' is a double solo show pairing Massaro with Giuseppe Chiari (Florence, 1926–2007), mediated by the infinite possibilities of language. Chiari, a key Italian exponent of the Fluxus anti-art movement, used irony and play as sharp tools to provoke viewers, with words, color, and musical scores as visual translations of music. His work 'Non siamo più artisti non siamo più niente' (1973) reflects on contemporary art's contradictions. Massaro's practice stems from studying contemporary visual culture; he extracts text from his own photographs and reproduces the words on black metal 'canvases,' isolating them from context to highlight both concept and visual form (font, size, spatial position). Upstairs, two monographic rooms introduce each artist's poetics, including a shocking pink exclamation point by Massaro. In other spaces—entrance, stairs, lower floor—works by Chiari and Massaro converse, creating harmonies, disagreements, and overlaps. Four long works by Chiari dedicated to the verb element provide pleasant continuity throughout the exhibition space.