Reality: Optional. Miaz Brothers with the 20th-Century Masters

Rome Modern Art Gallery hosts an exhibition project dedicated to the mechanisms of perception of reality, featuring original works by the Miaz Brothers in dialogue with some of the museum's masterpieces.

Curated by Claudio Crescentini and Wunderkammern, the exhibition is the first initiative of an itinerary by the Sovrintendenza Capitolina to celebrate the centenary of the foundation of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna and, among references and homages, carries the visitors into the universe of interpretations through an immersive experience, inspiring interest, reflections and questions.  

The creative language of the two brothers, Roberto and Renato, presents a new portrait style in which the original subjects, recognisable in their main features, are depicted out of focus. For years working on the bond between reality and imagination, the two artists have reinterpreted the masters of the Gallery (and not only), focusing on post-truth, a term used to identify something that, although false, is believed true by a significant number of people, based on emotions or prejudices, without any objective facts.

The exhibition path of about 60 works winds through four sections: Old Masters, the reinterpretation with the out-of-focus technique of some masterpieces of art, including works by Giacomo Balla, Camillo Innocenti, Auguste Rodin, Bruno Saetti and Adolf Wildt , in a play of parallelisms; Fake Duets, in which the use of airbrush and out-of-focus reproduction characterise the association between female portraits, such as Giacomo Balla's Portrait of Annina Levi della Vida (1930-1940) and Contardo Barbieri's Girl at the Window (1935), and the pictorial reality of the Miaz Brothers; Blurred Personalities displaying a series of black and white portraits, with altered contours or facial parts erased by white paint, are flanked by inspiring works by masters such as Renato Guttuso, Carlo Levi, Mario Sironi, Antonio Mancini (Figura in giardino. La Spagnola); New Trends and Experiments, the section that, in a play of mirrors with art works by Giacomo Balla, Adolfo De Carolis, Filippo De Pisis, Ferruccio Ferrazzi, Mario Mafai, Giorgio Morandi, Luigi Spazzapan, expands the idea of visual inspiration through naked and blurred female figures portrayed from their backs, contemplating masterpieces by contemporary artists such as Warhol, Hirst, Lichtenstein.

Reality: Optional. Miaz Brothers with the 20th-Century Masters pays special attention to accessibility with an itinerary, designed for persons with visual disabilities, featuring relief drawings and audio descriptions, as well as Braille translations supervised by Unione Italiana dei Ciechi e degli Ipovedenti – Roman Local Section – ETS and free tactile tours led by specialised operators.

The exhibition is promoted by Roma Capitale, Assessorato alla Cultura, Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, in collaboration with Wunderkammern. Organisation by Zètema Progetto Cultura and Wunderkammern.