Magazzino
Founded in Rome in 1997, Magazzino has been active for more than twenty years on the international circuit, taking part in fairs such as Art Basel, FIAC, Artissima, and miart. The gallery promotes Italian artists abroad and introduces international figures to Italy, building a dialogue between different cultural contexts. Over the years, it has developed an identity that weaves together the contemporary and the modern through projects that place practices, generations, and languages in relation to one another.
I believe that private galleries play a central role in shaping a city’s artistic landscape, because they operate in a direct and widespread way, connecting artists, collectors, and institutions. Unlike museums, the art that circulates in galleries is meant to enter everyday life: it is purchased, inhabited, and experienced. In this sense, galleries influence not only the art system, but also the way people relate to art itself.
Rome represents an interesting case, because it is not traditionally perceived as a capital of contemporary art, despite having had a vibrant and significant scene in the twentieth century. The historical weight of the ancient world is so strong that the contemporary is less immediately visible, but for this very reason galleries play an even more important role: that of activating new dialogues and making the present part of a unique cultural stratification.
In Italy, one grows up surrounded by beauty, and this inevitably shapes the eye. In my case, it is also something I feel I inherited from my parents, who had a natural grace and attentiveness to beauty, perhaps more common in their generation — “je connais la beauté par cœur,” as Baudelaire seems to have said.
Photo © Jeannette Montgomery Barron, 2004
In Rome, change generally happens more slowly than in other international contexts. However, the landscape has shifted, especially in relation to artists: in the past, there was a more recognizable and cohesive artistic community, defined by a shared poetics or aesthetic, or by affiliation with specific places. Today, by contrast, the scene appears far more fragmented and individualistic. The movements or groups tied to particular contexts, which once helped define a shared identity, have largely disappeared.
The local context has perhaps absorbed these changes gradually. While on the one hand this transformation reflects a greater openness and plurality of languages, on the other it has inevitably weakened the sense of belonging to a structured artistic community.
My path in art stems from a sensitivity that I believe is, at least in part, rooted in our culture. In Italy, one grows up surrounded by beauty, and this inevitably shapes the eye. In my case, it is also something I feel I inherited from my parents, who had a natural grace and attentiveness to beauty, perhaps more common in their generation — “je connais la beauté par cœur,” as Baudelaire seems to have said. Rather than through a traditional academic path, my education developed above all through direct experience: the daily work in the gallery, the exchange with artists, collectors, and institutions, and a constant engagement with artworks. It was a gradual learning process, built over time, that allowed me to refine an increasingly conscious eye.
I have been fortunate enough to meet great gallerists, such as Thomas Ammann and Gian Enzo Sperone, among others, from whom there was obviously a great deal to learn. In particular, the breadth of their interests allowed me to understand more fully, and more naturally, not only the work of artists, but also the meaning of art in general, which is, in certain respects, always elsewhere and in relation to something other than itself.
As for collectors, as Zeri used to say, “one trusts a collector more than an art historian.” This statement reflects his distrust of a certain kind of academic art history, sometimes perceived as too theoretical, abstract, or influenced by market dynamics. The collector, by contrast, often develops a more direct and selective eye: on the one hand because it is less mediated by theoretical constructions, and on the other because, having to invest personally, collectors are accustomed to engaging with a vast number of images and exercising a more concrete and immediate judgment.
As for artists, I place great trust in younger ones, because they tend to have fewer prejudices than those who are already established, as well as a greater openness of mind.
