UNIQUE: New Pop-Up Format for Emerging Artists Launches in Milan

A new format called UNIQUE, dedicated to supporting emerging artists, will debut in Milan on January 18-19, 2025, at Antonia Jannone Disegni di Architettura gallery, with a preview on January 17. The initiative was conceived by Bruno Gnocchi (born 2003), a young economics student at Regent's University London, who identified a lack of spaces for emerging artists in Italy compared to London. UNIQUE offers pop-up exhibitions in established venues, pairing two young artists with a nonagenarian gallerist as mentor and a 'curator-promoter' as bridge. The first edition features Iacopo Antonucci (Rome, 2003) and Pau Aguiló (Mallorca, Spain, 2002), both exhibiting for the first time. Their works explore the human figure: Antonucci's rich, incisive style synthesizes European and West African cultures, with particular interest in Voodoo religion, influenced by a trip to Benin; Aguiló's paintings blend native Spanish colors with the leaden skies of London and Dublin, reflecting contemporary torments and desires, shaped by his childhood in Algaida, Mallorca, a trip to Ireland, and studies at Camberwell College of Arts in London. Gnocchi describes UNIQUE as an opportunity for dialogue between growing artists and the art ecosystem.