Tête-à-tête: Artist Couples Show at Mucciaccia Gallery Rome
At Mucciaccia Gallery in Rome, there's an exhibition called Tête-à-tête, featuring eight artistic couples who are also life partners. This show explores how their personal lives shape their art, prompting a discussion about whether knowing their backstories adds to or takes away from their creativity. Among the artists are Sue Arrowsmith and Ian Davenport, as well as Nick and Rob Carter, and Shirin Neshat with Shoja Azari, who met back in 1997. Standout works include Charlotte Colbert's striking ceramic and stainless steel pieces, along with Philip Colbert's oil paintings, and Rob & Nick Carter’s modern takes on Botticelli's Venus. The exhibition also shares personal anecdotes, like the marriage of Piero Pizzi Cannella and Rossella Fumasoni in 1997.
Key facts
- Exhibition Tête-à-tête at Mucciaccia Gallery in Rome features eight artist couples.
- Couples include Sue Arrowsmith & Ian Davenport, Nick Carter & Rob Carter, Charlotte Colbert & Philip Colbert, Rossella Fumasoni & Piero Pizzi Cannella, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Carolina Mazzolari & Conrad Shawcross, Annie Morris & Idris Khan, Shirin Neshat & Shoja Azari.
- Rob & Nick Carter use a six-axis robotic arm to create acrylic-on-wood works and a digital video of Giorgione's Dresden Venus.
- Charlotte Colbert shows ceramic and stainless steel sculptures; Philip Colbert shows oil paintings.
- Sue Arrowsmith and Ian Davenport met at Goldsmiths College in the 1980s and were part of the YBA movement.
- Emilia Kabakov's husband Ilya died in 2023.
- Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari first met in 1997.
- The exhibition questions whether knowledge of artists' private lives affects appreciation of their work.
Entities
Artists
- Sue Arrowsmith
- Ian Davenport
- Nick Carter
- Rob Carter
- Charlotte Colbert
- Philip Colbert
- Rossella Fumasoni
- Piero Pizzi Cannella
- Ilya Kabakov
- Emilia Kabakov
- Carolina Mazzolari
- Conrad Shawcross
- Annie Morris
- Idris Khan
- Shirin Neshat
- Shoja Azari
- Damien Hirst
- Sandro Botticelli
- Giorgione
- Beato Angelico
- Francesca de Paolis
Institutions
- Mucciaccia Gallery
- Goldsmiths College
- YBA (Young British Artists)
- Freeze
- Artribune
Locations
- Rome
- Italy
- New York City
- United States
- Scotland
- United Kingdom
- Milan
- London
- Manchester
- Sidcup
- Birmingham
- Rocca di Papa
- Ischia
- Dnipropetrovsk
- USSR
- Dnipro
- Ukraine
- New York
- Qazvin
- Iran
- Shiraz
- France