Fuori means out or outside. The show is out of any scheme, outside of classical anthologies of Italian art. All the 43 artists on show are outsiders. Out because the exhibition is an escape from the current situation.
If the intent was to make people think outside the box, it is definitely a success.
The ambitious project started by creative director Sarah Cosulich and curator Stefano Collicelli Cagol aims to put on display an alternative representation of the last 60 years of Italian art.
Artworks are disposed all over the neoclassicist Palazzo Delle Esposizioni, including the staircases, invaded by the colourful floral installation by Petrit Halilaj and Alvaro Urbano.
In the first room, Cinzia Ruggeri introduces the themes of the exhibition. Her work is so emblematic and complete that it couldn’t be anywhere else. Through different objects, especially items of clothing and the iconic boot (a word Italians use to describe the shape of their country), Ruggeri ironically challenges the idea of “made in Italy”.
Ruggeri opens the way to a series of rooms dominated by female artists. The choice is not casual, as Sarah Cosulich and Stefano Collicelli Cagol wrote in Mousse Magazine, “[Ruggeri] disrupts artistic traditions and cultural imagery with a glam and post-punk attitude, pointing towards an all-female way that unwinds along the main axis of Palazzo delle Esposizioni”.
The following rooms feature artists of the calibre of Irma Blank, Lisetta Carmi, Nanda Vigo and many others.
The show is inclusive, multidisciplinary and transgenerational.
Well established artists such as Simone Forti and Giuseppe Chiari, are shown alongside the rising stars of Italian art such as Tomaso de Luca, finalist of the 2021 MAXXI Bvlgari prize and Diego Marcon, whose work has been shown at the MADRE Museum, FID Marseille and Whitechapel Gallery, just to mention some.
Despite being dated in the last Century, the artworks’ themes are extremely current: feminism, racism, sexuality.
The undiscussed protagonist on social media is the massive strawberry by Valerio Nicolai, titled Capitan Fragolone - Captain Big Strawberry. With thousands of shares on Instagram, the big paper mache installation has become a symbol of this eccentric exhibition.
For the first time, the Quadriennale shows an international taste. By exploring universal themes, exhibiting innovative artists, and portraying an alternative Italy, it would have been the perfect chance to broaden its public.
Also, Palazzo Delle Esposizioni, the favourite place in Rome of international curator and collectors, is finally showing a facade without scaffoldings after years of renovation works.
It is ironically sad that no international audience will be able to see it, not unless the end date is extended.