Simone Cametti's NIX Exhibition at Francesca Antonini in Rome

Simone Cametti (Rome, 1982) is presenting a solo exhibition titled NIX at Francesca Antonini's gallery in Rome, following his participation in Artissima 2023. The show features works created after the artist immersed himself in the flooded Acquabianca quarry in the Apuan Alps (South Tyrol) during December, when pumps are turned off. Cametti explored the light refractions and chromatic suggestions of the subterranean environment. The sculptures are characterized by natural marble veining, enhanced with graphite as the only tangible reference to the quarry. The artist sought deep blue but encountered fluorescent colors—yellow, orange, pink—which mark the NIX series. The title derives from the German word 'nichts' (nothing), referring to zones where all extractable marble has been removed, highlighting the danger of persistent extraction. The immersive ritual is documented by photographs displayed upside down, making the crystalline water appear suspended, offering a dystopian, post-apocalyptic dimension. A video of Cametti's underwater footage reproduces the sensory experience of deep blue punctuated by glacial milk dust and the hiss of water. Concurrently, a second solo show, Greenit, is on view at Casale dei Cedrati in Villa Doria Pamphili until January. The exhibition was curated by Daniela Lancioni, who wrote that Cametti's effort and fatigue 'remain kneaded into the body of the work.' Galleries Eugenia Delfini, Materia, and Ada were also awarded at Artissima.