Face Fear, 2021, installation view at Villa Romana, Florence. Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Genius of Fascism Sport, 2021, bronze, 23 x 14 x 45 cm (each). Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Memory Games, 2021, digital photograph mounted on dibond, 146 x 110 cm. Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Memory Games, 2021, digital photographs mounted on dibond, 146 x 110 cm. Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Memory Games, 2021, digital photograph mounted on dibond, 146 x 110 cm. Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Romano Romanelli, Pugile Ferito, 1931, plaster, 71 x 63 x 140 cm. Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Romano Romanelli, Pugile Ferito, 1931, plaster, 71 x 63 x 140 cm. Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
The exhibition Face Fear, at Villa Romana in Florence, revolves around the legacy of public art produced during the fascist regime of Mussolini.
Genius of Fascism Sport derives from a public statue in Rome depicting a Roman figure giving the fascist salute. Following World War II, the statue was altered in an attempt to obscure its fascist origin. Its title was changed to Genio dello Sport, and the statue was outfitted with ancient Roman-style boxing gloves. Genius of Fascism Sport consists of detailed replicas of these gloves.
Memory Games is a series of aerial photographs of people playing sports on top of fascist mosaics in Rome. The mosaics are part of Foro Italico, a sports complex built in the 1930’s as Foro Mussolini. Today, the central square of this complex has become a popular spot among locals for exercise. Memory Games reveals how these people inadvertently interact with history in the process.
The final room of the exhibition Face Fear contains an ambiguous sculpture from the fascist era named Pugile Ferito [Wounded Boxer]. Upon closer inspection, its face strikingly resembles that of Mussolini. Made by Romano Romanelli (1882–1968), one of the favoured artists of the fascist regime, the sculpture raises questions about Romanelli’s motivation for portraying Mussolini as a wounded boxer.
Face Fear, 2021, installation view at Villa Romana, Florence.
Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Genius of Fascism Sport, 2021, bronze, 23 x 14 x 45 cm.
Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Memory Games, 2021, digital photograph mounted on dibond, 146 x 110.
Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Memory Games, 2021, digital photograph mounted on dibond, 146 x 110.
Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Memory Games, 2021, digital photograph mounted on dibond, 146 x 110.
Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Romano Romanelli, Pugile Ferito, 1931, plaster, 71 x 63 x 140 cm.
Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
Romano Romanelli, Pugile Ferito, 1931, plaster, 71 x 63 x 140 cm.
Photo: Ela Bialkowska/OKNOstudio
The exhibition Face Fear, at Villa Romana in Florence, revolves around the legacy of public art produced during the fascist regime of Mussolini.
Genius of Fascism Sport derives from a public statue in Rome depicting a Roman figure giving the fascist salute. Following World War II, the statue was altered in an attempt to obscure its fascist origin. Its title was changed to Genio dello Sport, and the statue was outfitted with ancient Roman-style boxing gloves. Genius of Fascism Sport consists of detailed replicas of these gloves.
Memory Games is a series of aerial photographs of people playing sports on top of fascist mosaics in Rome. The mosaics are part of Foro Italico, a sports complex built in the 1930’s as Foro Mussolini. Today, the central square of this complex has become a popular spot among locals for exercise. Memory Games reveals how these people inadvertently interact with history in the process.
The final room of the exhibition Face Fear contains an ambiguous sculpture from the fascist era named Pugile Ferito [Wounded Boxer]. Upon closer inspection, its face strikingly resembles that of Mussolini. Made by Romano Romanelli (1882–1968), one of the favoured artists of the fascist regime, the sculpture raises questions about Romanelli’s motivation for portraying Mussolini as a wounded boxer.