The opening at MAO has been planned in occasion of Artissima – the art fair in Turin –  where I will present new works with GALLERIA MASSIMO MININI & FRANCESCA MININI, Main Section, BOOTH Yellow 10, Dark Blue 9.

Gigli, cinghiali, qualche carpa e poi conigli, galline e asini in gran quantità is a wallpaper piece for the museum’s reception area and the first part of a project that will develop at MAO during a two-year residency between 2023 and 2024.

With this project, MAO is creating a bridge with an important space just a short walk from the museum. The work was originally made for Casa Giglio (where it is permanently on view), a space that opened in 2019 on the top floor of the Seminario Metropolitano, in the heart of Turin’s old town, to provide accommodation to the families of children hospitalised at Regina Margherita. It was set up on the initiative of Giglio Onlus, an association that has been offering free accommodation since 2002 to families without means so that they can stay near their children while in hospital. Through the Nuovi Committenti programme, Casa Giglio commissioned Francesco Simeti to create a work for the entrance to the facility that would serve as a welcome to the families staying there and, at the same time, be expressive of an offering of cultural and recreational activities open to the whole city.

The title Gigli, cinghiali, qualche carpa e poi conigli, galline e asini in gran quantità  is like a nursery rhyme for the youngest guests of Casa Giglio, for whom the work was originally conceived, a kind of fantastical world to immerse themselves in.
Rooted in archival research, it is a composite work that combines the iconographic traditions of different cultures and times and animal and plant species from far-flung geographical regions.

At MAO, the work will be installed in the space that marks the dividing line between outside and inside, between the city and the protected space of the galleries, to welcome visitors and introduce them to the experience of the museum.