Madragoa Gallery Opens in Lisbon Led by Former Franco Noero Director

On April 28, a new contemporary art gallery named Madragoa will open in the historic Madragoa district of Lisbon, Portugal. The gallery is founded by Matteo Consonni, former director of Galleria Franco Noero in Turin, and Gonçalo Jesus, a Portuguese biologist with a long involvement in contemporary art projects. The 30-square-meter space aims to foster a continuous dialogue with the city and local realities, resisting gentrification in the authentic neighborhood. The inaugural year's program will focus on young artists born in the 1980s, both Portuguese and international. Currently, the gallery represents artists from Portugal, Italy, Poland, Ecuador, and Mexico. The opening exhibition is a solo show by Renato Leotta titled "Aventura," a Latin-derived word implying tension toward the future and uncertainty. Leotta's research explores subjective and objective time through painting, sculpture, and photography, subverting traditional processes to blur the line between reality and representation. The article also notes a trend of young Italian gallerists opening spaces abroad, citing examples like Jacopo Morelli in Brussels (Morelli Contemporary), Mario Mazzoli in Berlin, Ugolini in New York (Scaramouche), Silvia Neri in Paris, and Ronchini in London.