Six Former Academy Students Return to Bologna's Pinacoteca Nazionale for EX5

The fifth edition of the EX project, curated by Carmen Lorenzetti and promoted by the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna in collaboration with the Accademia di Belle Arti di Ravenna, brings together six artists—Giovanni Blanco, Jacopo Casadei, Rudy Cremonini, Domenico Grenci, Enrico Minguzzi, and Nicola Samorì—in the Salone degli Incamminati of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna. All are former students of the Academy, and their shared background in painting is the exhibition's focus. The works explore the tension between past and present, with Samorì and Minguzzi negating and defacing classical imagery, Blanco and Grenci distancing themselves from past ideals of beauty, and Casadei and Cremonini employing layering to reveal images. Blanco even uses his old Academy palette as a homage. The exhibition, located steps from the Academy entrance, serves as a return to origins and a model for current students. The project aims to showcase the artists' evolution from Academy students to nationally and internationally recognized figures.