Virginia Rota is one of those rare artists capable of showing us what the old masters are painting today, and not just because the tradition from which she draws formal inspiration includes Renaissance and Baroque painting as well as the history of photography; her special ability is, above all, a product of her insistence on the human condition (her oeuvre consists almost entirely of portraits), her psychological insight (unsettling and painfully incisive), and the sobriety of her particular brand of realism. Tradition carries a heavy weight in Virginia’s work, but let no one be deceived: she is an utterly contemporary artist, capable of giving her referents a radical twist without losing the thread of that long conversation that art is and has been since the dawn of time, without severing the link between the souls of those who live and those who lived.

Mourning, as shown here, in “Epiphany of shadow”, has nothing to do with quaint tradition and everything to do with folklore (that mixture of celebration and sacrifice), ritual and wildness. When contemplating these photographs, one might be tempted to adopt a detached attitude and intellectualise them, to look down one’s nose at the offerings they bear. Such blatant ignorance is typical of those who think they have ceased to be ignorant. But the truth is that the strength of these faces, these spaces, is so overpowering that it strips us naked, pulverising our cultural prejudices.                         Abraham Gragera

The exhibition catalogue features an essay by Abraham Gragera

Openning: 26 April, 20.30h