stARTT Architects Design Set for 'Amori Divini' at MANN

The exhibition 'Amori Divini' at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN) brings together about 80 works from Greco-Roman antiquity alongside modern reinterpretations, all centered on myths from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The works, from Magna Graecia and international museums including the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, show how the literary masterpiece inspired artists. Curated by Anna Anguissola, Carmela Capaldi, Luigi Gallo, and Valeria Sampaolo, the exhibition features an installation designed by the architecture studio stARTT, composed of Simone Capra, Claudio Castaldo, Francesco Colangeli, and Dario Scaravelli. The design moves away from the 'white cube' model, treating the space as a theatrical stage where precious floors from Pompeii and Herculaneum are visible for the first time. The installation acts as a 'box within a box,' with vertical supports that undergo 'metamorphoses' through incisions, cuts, and folds, revealing the permanent architecture. The color orange, chosen by the museum for those wings, creates poetic reactions, inspired by the work of artist Pirri. Display supports allude to Zeus's loves and zoomorphic transformations, such as a 'centipede' base for display cases or a 'stylized bird flight' supporting twin paintings of Hermaphroditus. The exhibition runs until October 16.