Monday, March 18, 2024

Chris Rocchegiani Sophie Westerlind Il mio Telaio, la tua Laura

Renata Fabbri presents Il mio Telaio, la tua Laura, a dialogue between the artistic research of Chris Rocchegiani (Jesi, 1977) and Sophie Westerlind (Stockholm, 1985) hosted in the project room on the lower floor of the gallery.
The project started out with the aim of fostering a comparison between two distinct pictorial languages, tracing resonances and points of convergence within their individual specificities.

Drawing inspiration from the works Il Telaio by Rocchegiani and Laura by Westerlind, the exhibition picks up the thread of a conversation that naturally unfolded when the two paintings were exhibited together during a collective event. Characterized by circular painting movement (in the case of Laura) and by vertical tension (in the case of Il Telaio), the works dialogued in complementary counterpoint, also due to their different pictorial languages: more figurative in one and more informal in the other. While Westerlind portrays a body lying on a bed in an attempt to capture the subject’s innermost feelings, Rocchegiani draws from inner images, bringing more or less recognizable fragments of reality onto the canvas.

Invited by the gallery to share the intimacy of the same space, Rocchegiani and Westerlind embark on a journey of mutual understanding that sees them engage
in a close correspondence concerning their respective painting research from afar. The project presented is the result of this dense dialogue in which the artists continuously “venture out of only to return to” painting, via stories and personal confidences.

Extracted from a fragment of their conversations, the title suggests an intimate connection between the interlocutors, as well as the profound sensitivity of the artists trying to understand and embrace each other’s vision. Conceived as the prelude to an ongoing dialogue, the exhibition reflects on the mutual influence of the artistic experience, exploring the boundaries where their visions merge and mutually enrich one another, thus giving rise to a vibrant and prolific exchange.

March 20 – April 30, 2024

Via A. Stoppani 15/c 
20129 Milano


Chris Rocchegiani was born in 1977 in Jesi (Ancona), where she currently lives and works. She graduated in figurative arts from the State Institute of Art in Jesi and obtained a degree in Graphic Design from the ISIA in Urbino. She is an artist, art director, graphic design teacher at the ACCA Academy, and Basic Design lecturer at the Department of Design and Architecture at the University of Camerino.

She is the Co-founder of CH RO MO alongside Roberto Montani, a research duo focusing on visual languages in design and art; and the Founder of Pensiero Manifesto, a collective of creatives including artists, graphic designers and illustrators, who use posters as a public utility tool, cultivating practices of listening and giving back to the community. In the field of design, her projects have been awarded at the European Design Awards, at the Aiap Women Design Awards, by ADI (entering the shortlist for the Compasso d’Oro award), and by the Cariplo Foundation for Cultural Innovation.

Recent exhibitions: Pittura italiana oggi, Triennale Milano, Milan (2023); Linea 1201, MAXXI L’Aquila, L’Aquila (2022); Jumelles culturelles, Château de Mayenne, Mayenne (2022); La ripetizione, Projecktraum 145, Berlin (2021); I know you know that you know, Galleria Yudikone, Brescia (2020); Total Recall, Galleria Bianconi, Milan (2020); Libere Tutte, Casa Testori, Novate Milanese (2019); Diagrammi, Cripta747, Turin (2019).

Sophie Westerlind (born in Stockholm in 1985) is a Swedish painter who currently lives and works in Venice. She studied in London, where she graduated from Central Saint Martins (2011) and the Royal College of Art (2013). Her strong interest in anatomy and the Venetian Renaissance led her to Venice, where she earned her degree from the Academy of Fine Arts (2018). In 2019, she was awarded a national grant for her drawings inspired by Tintoretto by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. She has recently completed a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.

Recent solo and group exhibitions include: Spring Salon, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm (2024); She affects us, indeed, Swedish Institute, Rome (2023); You danced on the carpet and waited for her, Galerie Norbert Arns, Cologne (2023); Venice Time Case, Monitor Gallery, Rome (2023); Orbe, Galerie Ariane C-Y, Paris (2022); Think of Knut!, Casa Testori and Teatro deSidera, Milan (2022); Yes, I used to be a great dancer, Spazio NEUTRO, Reggio Emilia (2022) ; Venice Time Case, Galleria Tomaso Calabro, Milan (2021); Premio Combat, Livorno (2021); Dialogues 01, Center for Recent Drawing, London, UK (2021).

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