Alba Savoi. Under the Sign of the Fold

On Thursday, April 2 at 18:00 PM, Gramma_Epsilon Gallery will open Under the Sign of the Fold, a solo exhibition by Alba Savoi, curated by Paolo Cortese and Rosanna Ruscio.

This exhibition marks the first retrospective of the Roman artist, held four years after her passing. It brings together approximately forty works, including paintings, collages, sculptures, and artist’s books. The focus is on the period from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, during which she explored the symbolic and material qualities of her chosen media
Following an initial figurative phase that attracted considerable public attention, Savoi turned to investigating what lies beyond the visible image, what cannot be seen but can be sensed and what exists in a state of potential. Her attention was particularly drawn to drapery and the “fold,” which she explored not only for its visual implications but also for its conceptual significance
Mirella Bentivoglio recalled that although the act of “folding” could be associated with the feminine and domestic sphere, in Alba Savoi’s work it took on an entirely different meaning, so powerful and vital was her way of manipulating the canvas.
Her “folded and cut canvases” from the late 1970s questioned the autonomy of the pictorial surface, engaging in dialogue with Gilles Deleuze’s philosophical reflections on the fold and with the Baroque marble draperies of Gian Lorenzo Bernini. For the artist, this was not merely a stylistic choice but a vision of the world: the sign of a reality destined to unfold and reveal itself differently each time, the principle and the conclusion of her fifty-year-long research.

In the same way, repetition and sequentiality became recurring features throughout her work, as did the use of photographic images later digitally processed, which re-emerged as a field of experimentation connected to words and language.

All these aspects form the basis of this exhibition, which retraces the key moments of her artistic activity, here reconstructed in a precise and thoughtfully considered manner.

Biography

Alba Savoi (Rome, 1929–2022) was an Italian artist. She initially studied advertising graphics and worked in the fields of manuscript illumination on parchment and graphic design before dedicating herself to visual art.
Savoi began painting in the late 1960s. Her early works, some of which are figurative, already reveal a strong interest in drapery. In the mid-1970s, she attended courses at the Free School of Nude Studies at the Art High School in Rome. Her research then shifted toward the materiality of the canvas itself, creating works characterized by folds and cuts made directly on the textile surface.
Another important area of her practice was the “artist’s book,” which she created using a variety of materials, from paper to terracotta.
In 1987, she began working with photocopy technology; through processes of enlargement and montage, she developed what she termed “Xeroxculture.” From 2000 onward, she further expanded her practice into digital art, employing computers and new technology to produce new series of works.
Since the 1970s, Savoi was involved in various women artists’ collectives and cooperatives, and she was also active in art therapy.
Her work is held in major Italian and international collections,, including the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, the Mart Museum, the National Museum of Women in the Arts and the Biennale de São Paulo Pinacoteca.
Among the many distinguished critics who have written about Savoi’s work are Mirella Bentivoglio, C. F. Carli, I. D’Agostino, P. Ferri, M. Lunetta, L. Marziano, B. Vizzini and L. Rea.
The exhibition is part of the project “Le ragazze di Mirella”, which Gramma_Epsilon Gallery dedicates to Mirella Bentivoglio and the artists she supported. It is accompanied by a bilingual (Italian/English) catalogue curated by Paolo Cortese and Rosanna Ruscio, with contributions by Paolo Cortese, Rosanna Ruscio, and Tommaso Silvestrini.