The Lorenzo de’ Medici Gallery in collaboration with Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute and Marist Italy would like to thank all who participated in the open call for the (IN)ANIMATE EXISTENCE: Reviving the Unused Exhibition.
This exhibition explores the transformation of discarded or non-functional objects into meaningful art, challenging the notions of consumerism and the value of utility.
Artists will delve into intangible and invaluable aspects of existence, reimagining our world for a better future. The selected works will breathe new life into what society deems purposeless, engaging with broader themes of sustainability, inclusion, and societal outcasts.
We were thoroughly impressed with the amount of innovative and creative project proposals. Our jury took its time to extensively review and appreciate each application. After some deliberation, we are pleased to announce our selections:
Gina Bae
Tomo Borromeo
Aliyah Goldberg
Girija Jhalani
Theodore Lance and Carlo Marshall
Gretta Lemke
Lucia Rodriguez
Rylie Severino
Jurors:
Claudia Ceccato (Artist, Lucca)
Samuel Hromec (Exhibition Curator)
Luca Matti (Artist, Florence)
Belis Özbek (Exhibition Curator)
Špela Zidar (LdM Gallery Supervisor)
Exhibition Dates: December 5th – December 14th, LdM Gallery, via de’ Pucci 4
The LdM Gallery is a project by Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, an interdisciplinary space where academic research and artistic experimentation meet within a professional setting.
Stefano Tondo, a visual artist born in Lecce in 1974, stands out in the contemporary artistic panorama for his incessant search for the truth hidden behind appearances. Resident in Florence, Tondo has shaped a distinctive artistic path, characterized by a profound investigation into the boundaries of identity and the very essence of material and immaterial reality. Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Tondo initially embraced advertising photography, a field that sensitized him to powerful visual dynamics before dedicating himself completely to art in 2002. His transition towards pure artistic research marks the beginning of an exploratory journey through various mediums and expressive forms, from installation to sculpture, from photography to video.
At the LdM Gallery he presents the personal exhibition LUCE è OMBRA (Light is Shadow) with new site-specific installations that investigate the basis of a relationship narrated through sometimes even contrasting materials and objects, which however create a unified story.
Opening:June 12th, from 5 to 8 PM LdM Gallery, Via de’ Pucci 4
After the opening, the exhibition will stay open until Friday, July 12th, Mon, Thu & Fri, 4 PM – 7 PM, Tue – Wed, 11 AM – 3 PM
The LdM Gallery is a project by Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, an interdisciplinary space where academic research and artistic experimentation meet within a professional setting.
With the conclusion of the academic year 2023-2024 an end-of-year event took place in the prestigious setting of the Museo degli Innocenti on Saturday, May 11th. “Nurturing the Future – Nutrire il futuro,” a showcase of the works by our students enrolled for the practical courses of the schools of Creative Arts and Design.
It is an exclusive context of invaluable importance in the history of art, a place where international exhibitions are regularly hosted.
It’s not just the value of this historic venue that makes the occasion special, but also the spirit of warmth and intimacy, both physical and spiritual, that permeates its spaces. Designed by Brunelleschi at the beginning of the 15th century it is one of the very first examples of Renaissance architecture. Since the very beginning the Hospital has been dedicated to welcoming youths and nurturing their cultural and emotional growth within the society. It is an intimate and nurturing place for beauty, a place where new possibilities are created within the harmony of Renaissance forms.
A similar venue provided the ideal context to showcase our students’ artistic expressions, amplify their voices as emerging talents, and facilitate their interaction with the public.
Students participated from the following departments:
In the midst of chaos, we find ourselves trying our utmost to explain it, searching for answers in an endless ocean of questions and uncertainty, trying to forge madness into serenity. Nothing is constant, nothing is certain, nothing is coherent, yet somehow we navigate through this endless maze.
Blind. Deaf. Suffocated by our senses. Small glimpses of lucidity the only light to lead us.
lucid
/lu·cid ˈlü-səd/ adj. intervals of clarity between periods
of confusion or insanity
Madeline Ambrosino Lily Baxter Joel Georgii Maya Jacobs Thu Luu Laura Valadés Paola Valdez Román
INTERVIEW WITH JOEL GEORGII – PROFESSIONAL JEWELRY CERTIFICATE STUDENT
LdM Gallery is pleased to announce Fashion Street, an exhibition by the renowned Tuscany-based street photographer Massimiliano Faralli. Faralli will present photographs from his series dedicated to Milano Fashion Week, the result of which was also the recently published book Fashion Week / Fashion Trip for Scripta Manent.
Curated by Spela Zidar In collaboration with the LdM Photography Department under the supervision of Gianluca Maver
Opening:April 11th, from 5 to 8 PM LdM Gallery, Via de’ Pucci 4
The first fascination of photography was its ability to capture the moment, to represent the reality around it. Faralli with his understanding of street photography still aspires to capture the decisive moment, the significant moment, although he does not document the reality but shows it from his very personal point of view.
“For me, street photography is when the street becomes a stage, and we photographers, attracted by the energy of the context, let ourselves be captured by the flow of that moment until we become an integral part. Empathy and emotion guide much of my work.“ says Faralli.
The exhibition will also host a collection of photos by our Photography students, selected by the artist, the gallery curator Špela Zidar, and LdM photography department supervisor Gianluca Maver. These photos were taken within the context of a workshop that focused on Street Photography, during which the participants were led through the streets of Florence by Faralli, to capture unusual and unique moments with their cameras.
During the workshop, organized by LdM Gallery, Massimiliano Faralli shared with the participants his approach to the street, which he always treats with profound respect. The photographer feels comfortable amidst his subjects, and it is that comfort that makes his style unique and recognizable. Energy, different perspectives, bright colors accentuated by the use of flash, and masterly use of light and shadows are his artistic signature. His work is mostly about connection, participation, and relation with the people he is photographing and taking on new challenges. In interacting with students, Faralli describes his intentions as such: “Speaking about or taking photography produces positive emotions of energy and a state of serenity in me. My most important goal is to be able to transmit the same emotion to others, through my work, my practice.” LdM Gallery is glad to be able to offer this opportunity not only to the viewers but also to the LdM students, creating new connections between them, the artist, and the street.
Gallery Supervisor: Spela Zidar Gallery Intern: Anna Johnston, Katharine Temmallo
After the opening, the exhibition will stay open until Friday, May 8th, Mon & Fri, 10 AM – 2 PM, Tue – Thu, 4:30 – 7:30 PM
The LdM Gallery is a project by Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, an interdisciplinary space where academic research and artistic experimentation meet within a professional setting.
February 29th, from 5 to 8 PM LdM Gallery, Via de’ Pucci 4
LdM Gallery is pleased to host Love Project by Leonardo Moretti. The works on show function as an emotional diaphragm. In photography the diaphragm acts as an instrument that regulates the passage of light, in this case the works filter a visual code based on emotions while reflecting on the mystifying power of images.
Both installations on show, Love Project, which gives the name to the exhibition, and Tristagram stories, that addresses the relationship with social media, have a strong connection with the artist’s private and personal emotions.
The works are installed in a fluid way and give an impression as if the exhibition space is slowly being flooded, covered and uncovered by the artworks.
In this exhibition the artist presents artworks that develop in series, that yearn to be reproduced serially and to fill the whole space they have available. This seriality gets interrupted as the viewer discovers that the elements, even if similar, maintain their uniqueness, thus the reproduction is fake.
As also the emotion of love, the most represented, repeated, praised and celebrated by the artists all over the world, continues to contain uniqueness that is related to the personality involved. And that remains so even though so much has been said about love that it became a fetish, a brand.
Curated by: Spela Zidar Gallery Intern: Anna Johnston, Katharine Temmallo
After the opening, the exhibition will stay open until Friday, March 29th, Mon & Fri, 10 AM – 2 PM, Tue & Thu, 4:30 – 7:30 PM
The LdM Gallery is a project by Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, an interdisciplinary space where academic research and artistic experimentation meet within a professional setting.
2023 marks the 50th anniversary of Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici!
The Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute – LdM – celebrated its 50 years of activity on November 29th, 2023, with an evening dedicated to emotions. Founded in 1973, LdM now has over 4000 students each year, institutional partners worldwide, and an academic offering that spans across 7 schools, 36 departments, and over 500 courses. In this 50-year journey spent together with students, faculty, and staff, the Institute has grown while staying true to its original inspiration; To encourage generations of young people to discover and pursue their talents, nurture their passions, while maintaining the ability to be moved and excited by the many challenges and achievements of this educational and life experience. On this evening of celebration, LdM wanted to share this emotion of a calling, that to educate the young generations, which are born anew every day, ever more beautiful, ever more radiant.
The night was a true “gala of emotions.” hosting stage performance, live painting, poetry session, photo exhibition and a taste of Italy, from north to south through the tasteful buffet.
November 16th, from 5 to 8PM LdM Gallery,Via de’ Pucci 4
The LdM Gallery welcomes Tatiana Villani as she presents her exhibition Polimorfia (Polymorphy). With her exhibition, Villani showcases her creative endeavors and research through multimedia outlets. Words such as communication, movement, transformation, adaption, fertility, and error string together the separate works. Using different mediums like painting, sculpture, photography, video, and installation, Villani explores her interest with issues pertinent to relational art. She creates a new artistic ecosystem for the viewer with her various projects analyzing the current social and political conditions of society and how it relates to the environment.
For the LdM Gallery Villani creates an exhibition representing a dialogue between several artworks that describe her research during the last decade, creating an environment where these projects can relate with one another. The artist describes the exhibition as a: “… necessity of dialogue, that is self-discovery through otherness. In this mirroring between different and at the same time connected works and themes, I try to discover what is still missing, what the next step will be and from which story this journey has begun.”
Villani further explains: “My work is [a] collective production, where dialogue takes place, both between the authors, if it is a multi-author process, and with the participants, if the process is relational.” The culmination of all the works present in the gallery are no accident. “The proportions and materials are related in an articulated, leveled way, moving from the sensitive surface to dive into exploration which is social, ecological, systemic and at the same time intra psychic…swapping the artistic languages increases the possibilities.”
Tatiana Villani Born in Bergamo in 1974 and grew up in the province of Lecce where she continued her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. From 2007 to 2011 she lived in Berlin, where she collaborated with the international project Happenstudio Platform for contemporary art. Villani’s activity ranges from visual arts, theater and art therapy applied to various areas of society. Since 2011, she has been involved in numerous projects and residencies collectively.
Curated by: Spela Zidar Galleryinterns: Girija Jhalani, Kayla Parsons
After the opening, the exhibition will stay open until Thursday, December 7th, Mon, 10 AM – 2 PM, Tue – Fri, 4 – 7 PM
The LdM Gallery is a project by Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, an interdisciplinary space where academic research and artistic experimentation meet within a professional setting.
October 19th, from 5 to 8PM LdM Gallery,Via de’ Pucci 4
About ROMANCE:Giovanni Longo’s artistic narration consists in carefully choosing the expressive language that will then be used in the creation and condition of the message conveyed by the work. His work begins with the recovery of the wooden materials found in the riverbeds or on the beach and prefers his native Calabria region as a collection place. By thus accumulating and archiving forms, data, and information, the artist creates skeletal structures or anatomical reminiscences with which he narrates topics related to memory, history, and identity. For the artist, this narration is not the chronological description of the events that follow one another, but a meticulous and patient organization of the pieces that compose them. It is the selection and layering of these elements that writes a new story every time, and it is the relationship between them that makes the story realistic. It is precisely the relationship that is the protagonist of Romance, an exhibition project proposed for LdM Gallery, which represents Giovanni Longo’s recent research. The word Romance is described as the feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness. It presumes a relationship, or rather, a very personal expectation of a relationship. Starting from the assumptions of Gestalt psychology, the artist recounts different conditions of proximity between forms which also become a pretext to address the dynamics of connections between living beings.
About GIOVANNI LONGO: Giovanni Longo (born in Locri, 1985) is a sculptor and visual artist based in Italy. His work has exhibited in several national and international exhibitions, amongst which: 54th The Venice Biennale (Italian Pavilion / Academies); Kunstenfestival Watou in Belgium; Wood Mood Valcucine in London, New York and Milan; art residency in Grasse curated by PHOS; Jeune Création Européenne Biennale in France, Poland, Spain and Denmark. In 2016 the MARCA Museum of Art’s Catanzaro hosted his first institutional solo exhibition curated by Marco Meneguzzo, and in 2022 wins the International Art Prize YICCA at Matalon Foundation in Milan.
After three months of art residency in Paris, at the ateliers of the Montrouge cultural department, he currently works in Rome and collaborates with several digital tech companies.
Curated by: Spela Zidar Galleryinterns: Girija Jhalani, Kayla Parsons
After the opening, the exhibition will stay open until Friday, November 10th, Mon 10 AM – 2 PM, Tue – Fri 4 – 7 PM
The LdM Gallery is a project by Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, an interdisciplinary space where academic research and artistic experimentation meet within a professional setting.
The LdM gallery is pleased to invite you to its temporary exhibition in collaboration with Camnes (Center for Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies), titled “CRACKING THE CODE: The Decipherment of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs.” The exhibition will commence on the day of the 200th year anniversary of the official discovery of how to decode the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and will be in the presence of the curators. The exhibition is aiming to present the discovery’s significance and will feature a series of images closely connected to this iconic ancient script, which had been in use for at least 3,600 years. Composed of nineteen pictures and a multimedia station, each image is associated with a scannable QR code that is intended to further educate and enhance the visiting experience for the audience and make a link with contemporary forms of communication. Moreover, a series of panels with specific focuses on the different aspects of writing in ancient Egypt will complete the experience.
The exhibition “Cracking the Code” is targeted to all audiences and aims to provide the tools for a better understanding of the relevance of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing also in our times.
A full immersion into understanding of Ancient Egypt will be enhanced by collateral events for LdM students, a cooking event, where participants will prepare and taste an ancient Egyptian recipe and a Treasure Hunt in the gallery aimed to decipher a hieroglyphic writing with a help of clues given by the curators of the exhibition. There will also be a special opening on Saturday October 7th on the occasion of the 19th Giornata del Contemporaneo (Contemporary Day).
Camnes is an international project of scientific excellence based in Florence that was founded in 2010 and studies the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean and Middle East. The university has established international relations with several private and public collaborators in order to further their scientific and anthropological studies of cultural heritage. Their exhibition activities aim to further their mission statement of preserving and educating the public about the history of the ancient societies through its showcased pieces of different media.
Curated by: Massimiliano Franci, Irene Morfini, Valentina Santini – CAMNES: Center for Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies
LdM Gallery: Via de’ Pucci 4, Florence
Opening: Sept 27th from 5pm to 8pm
Opening Night Event: Talk with the curators at 6pm
Special Opening on the occasion of the 19th Giornata del Contemporaneo: Oct 7th 10am-1pm
The LdM Gallery is a project by Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, an interdisciplinary space where academic research and artistic experimentation meet within a professional setting.
