Joanna De Vos & Melania Rossi - Nasi per l'arte

NASI PER L’ARTE
— Joanna De Vos and Melania Rossi

Nasi per l’arte is not about noses.
But how can we say that, when noses of all shapes and sizes will accompany you on your visit?
The nose itself, the nose as a form, is not the essence of the curatorial concept.
Is a nose just a nose? René Magritte would ask.

The exhibition Nasi per l’arte was born from the encounter between two curatorial noses belonging to Joanna De Vos and Melania Rossi. We met many years ago and found that our noses for art were connected somehow. The title of the show indicates that both our lives have always been directed toward—indeed dedicated to—art. The nose is a navigator, guiding us through life; a delicate vehicle that detects and determines. It narrows and dilates at the same time, creating circular communication between the inner and the outer world.

Curious self-portraits, drawings, paintings, figurative and abstract sculpture, sculptural installations, reanimated cinema, video works, photographs, artworks that revive tradition and mythology or inquire into the human condition… these are the fragrances of the exhibition. Their perfume spreads through the rooms of the elegant Palazzo Merulana, wafting past the pieces in its wonderful permanent collection. The most beautiful thing that could happen at Nasi per l’arte would be for all the artworks to breathe as one, creating a meeting that generates new meanings and new feelings. Two noses got together and now, with nostrils open wide, they sincerely hope you will enjoy experiencing their and your noses for art.