Art Advisory
SIX SENSES ROME | STUDIO URQUIOLA


Six Senses launches its first urban hotel in Rome
The artworks selection offers a contemporary view of the typical elements of Roman classicism. Thus, it respects the genius loci, while the decidedly modern imprinting allows us to look at what is classically Roman with fresh eyes.


This is the direction that guides the progression of diptychs by the artist T-Yong Chung and the table-sculpture by Paolo Giordano. From the bas relief textiles of Eliška Konečná, to the digital art of Andreas Wannerstedt, nearly all the works have been created as site-specific, to better respond in dialogue to the pre-existing architecture and the contemporary interpretation of Studio Urquiola. Alberto Selvestrel photographs a geometrical Rome, while Analogia Project’s sculptures give a stylized synthesis of it. Each artist depicts the city to us with different styles: from Sara Salvemini’s watercolours to the overlapped layering of Andrea Mauti, the pop paintings by Caterina Licitra Ponti, and the meticulous maps by Tarek Abbar.
This well-balanced compendium of local and international influences gives us a glimpse of previously unviewed chromatic portrayals, such as the large tapestry by Beatrice Bonafini or the installation by Mandalaki Studio. But one also has the sensation of being in the story personally thanks to the sculptural work by Daniele Accossato. The selection also highlights the pictorial mastery of the artists on different materials: from ceramics by Aldo Londi for Bitossi Ceramiche, to Paolo Polloniato’s unassembled mosaic, or the glass powder paintings by Marco Emmanuele. Last but not least Rome is shown as the verdant, lush city that can be glimpsed on the terraces or enjoyed in the parks, thanks to the botanical theme featured in Caroline Gavazzi’s photographs.
Archive
- Exhibition
- Editorial
2022
The traveling exhibition travels up the peninsula touching historic places, churches and exhibition spaces between Ragusa Ibla, Potenza, Varenna, Rimini and Busto Arsizio. An exercise in creative decentralization made possible by Sara Ricciardi's exhibition design. On display is a selection of everyday objects by ten largely off-the-radar Italian designers.
2021
On the occasion of the third edition of Edit Napoli, within the Edit Cult program that animates the historic center of the Campania capital, Federico Pepe presents an exhibition, curated by Federica Sala, that is a total dialogue with the city of Naples and the spaces of the Gaetano Filangeri Civic Museum.
2021
The visual project, as well as an intimate and domestic diary, collects 50 shots taken during the forced isolation of 2020. Begun as a form of storytelling on Instagram, the project was later declined into a publication, eventually becoming an exhibition in the spaces of Marsèll Paradise.
2021
An unprecedented collection of candelabras, conceived ad hoc by a series of national and international designers, is displayed in a cognitive exhibition and auctioned by Christie's. The proceeds are entirely donated to the Mario Negri Institute, implementing scientific research against cancer.
2021
The exhibition at Ordet presents for the first time the deep sense of Marcin Rusak’s ongoing research and development phases that characterize the designer’s collections and tests. In his work, elements such as flowers, leaves and plants are observed, analysed, reconstructed and transformed into raw material to be subsequently re-designed.
2021
The fifth edition of the format conceived by Elena Quarestani, continues under the banner of dialogue between three authors: architecten jan de vylder inge vinck/inge vinck jan de vylder architecten, Claudia Losi and Caretto/Spagna. Three interventions speak of care and attention and another, non-invasive way of inhabiting the world.
2021
On the occasion of the opening of the ADI Design Museum, the association is dedicating, on the centenary of its birth, a tribute exhibition to entrepreneur Giulio Castelli, among the founding fathers of the association itself and its first president. The exhibition, located in the area dedicated to the Compassi d'Oro alla Carriera, traces the salient stages of his entrepreneurial life.
2021
An artistic research project exploring the traditional craft of glassblowing and translating implicit, bodily knowledge into digital data, experiences, and objects. The first results of the research are displayed in an exhibition in feldfünf with artists Verena Bachl, Elaine Bonavia, Babe and Wiezorek, Philipp Weber & WINT Design Lab.
2021
Conceived as a widespread exhibition in the heart of Milan, the cultural revival and recovery project conceived by entrepreneur Lorenzo Lombardi and photographer Valentina Angeloni presents a four-way conversation between Nathalie Du Pasquier, Gianluca Malgeri with Arina Endo, Lorenzo Vitturi, and Regine Schumann.
2020
No longer three monographic exhibitions in parallel, but a single exhibition in which Loris Cecchini, Michele De Lucchi with AMDL Circle and Pentagram, in the further expanded version of Pentagram & Friends, present their own work in relation to that of others, under the banner of interaction and above all collaboration.
2020
Through a series of dinners, mari&cò rethinks distance as an opportunity to be able to restore meaning to emptiness. The seats at the table, which cannot be used due to social distancing, are occupied by the works of Francesca Ascione, Hillsideout, Federica Gambigliani Zoccoli, Anna Paparozzi, Raffaella Valsecchi, and Lella Zambrini.
2018, 2019
The project, which comes to life in Cassina's Milan showroom and catalogs, brings art, design, and architecture into dialogue, involving galleries such as Apalazzo, Depart and Renata Fabbri and artists such as Gioele Amaro, Gaetano Pesce, Agostino Iacurci, ...
2018
To mark the centenary of his birth, the Milan Triennale dedicates a major monographic exhibition, curated by Patricia Urquiola in collaboration with Federica Sala, to Achille Castiglioni (1918-2002), one of the most important masters of Italian design.
2018, 2019, 2020
Over three editions, the last of which is in a digital format, Life in Vogue presents a dialogue between design and fashion by having a selection of designers, with unmistakable style, to interpret the spaces of the historic editorial office of Vogue Italia.
2017, 2018, 2019
Airbnb launches the new “Casa d’artista” ("Artist's House") project to revalue Italian villages through site-specific interventions by artists such as Francesco Simeti, Edoardo Piermattei, Olimpia Zagnoli and Lorenzo Vitturi.
2016, 2017
For two consecutive editions, the exhibition Ladies & Gentlemen, curated by PS and gallery Secondome, reopens a historic Milanese house in downtown (14 Via Cesare Correnti) for an unexpected dialogue between old rooms and new Italian craftsmanship.
2015, 2016, 2017
Curating the annual exhibition of the newly formed 5VIE district to tell the state of the art of contemporary design: Max Lamb and Raw Edges at Garage Sanremo and Sabine Marcelis, Philipp Weber, Sigve Knutson, Matteo Cibic at Foyer Gorani.
2013, 2014, 2015
The newly established Object section of the fair, initiated by Vincenzo De Bellis, includes a selection of galleries active in promoting modern and contemporary design objects conceived in limited editions and enjoyed as works of art.
2011
Curated by Federica Sala and Michela Pelizzari (PS), Instant Design is divided into two different chapters, Edible Thoughts and Fruible Acts. Two different exhibitions, each aimed at investigating the ephemeral aspect and the very act of fruition of design.
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Under the artistic direction of Francesco Bonami, Enel Contemporanea marks Enel's entry into the world of contemporary art with a series of works created by artists such as: Bik van der Pol, Carsten Holler, Mike and Doug Starn, Toshiko Horiuchi.
2006
The Parisian institution Centre Pompidou is dedicating an exhibition to Benetton's creativity research center. The exhibition, curated by Marie-Laure Jousset with Federica Sala as her assistant,, will next be taken on tour to the Shanghai Art Museum, the Milan Triennale and Shiodome Italia in Tokyo.
2006
A group show, curated by Federica Sala, about experimentation in design: vinyl by François Azambourg for Domestic, Arik Levy, Electronic Shadow, Olivier Peyricot, and ENSCI Les Ateliers students.
2005
Monographic exhibition dedicated to the futuristic talent and communication skills of Ora Ito, often referred to as the enfant terrible of French design for his ability to make fun of the system while being within it.
2004
The French cultural outpost in Milan entrusts Federica Sala with the curatorship of a group exhibition, among designers and manufacturers, on the theme of light in French design on the occasion of the Salone del Mobile.
2003
The Paris institution dedicates an exhibition to the designer's 20 years of work for Olivetti on the occasion of the donation made by Ettore Sottsass Jr. to the museum's collection. Curated by Marie-Laure Jousset with Ivan Mietton and Federica Sala.
2002
Curated by Marie-Laure Jousset and staged at Galerie Sud, the monographic exhibition on French designer Philippe Starck presents a dematerialized account of objects through the use of the latest video and morphing technologies.
2022, 2023
From July 2022, Federica Sala is the Editorial Director of The Good Life Italia, the first hybrid business & lifestyle magazine. Every two months it offers more than 200 pages of high-quality content to tell and interpret our times, from an unprecedented point of view.
2022
Curatorial text for the catalog of the exhibition at the ADI Design Museum.
2022
Curatorial text on the occasion of the monographic exhibition of artist Flaminia Veronesi.
2022
Curatorial text for the Alta Tension (High Voltage) catalog edited by DDW for the exhibition of the same name at the ADI Design Museum.
2022
Curatorial text for the designer's exhibition at MDW.
2022
Curatorial text for the designer's exhibition at MDW.
2022
Curatorial text "The exhibition does not exist" published in Le Dictateur No. 6, Le Dictateur editions.
2021
Curatorial text for the preface of the book "Senso Espresso" published for Cimbali.
2021
Curatorial text for the exhibition catalog "Tunnel 29," published by Mao Museum Slovenia.
2021
The book, published by Rizzoli International, is an intimate journey into the creative universe of the sculptor and art designer Gianluca Pacchioni. The result of a ten-year collaboration with the photographer Lorenzo Pennati, it recounts the journey of his art through precious interior objects, works of art and site-specific installations.
2021
Curatorial text for the book "Handmade" by Bitossi published by Bitossi on the occasion of the museum's opening in Montelupo Fiorentino.
2021
Curatorial text for the book "Fine Zine" published by Camp Design Gallery.
A tribute to the entrepreneur who helped found the Italian design system and give recognition to the design profession. The exhibition and the catalog summarize his entrepreneurial vision.
Graphic design: Giuseppe Basile, Luca Ladiana
2021
Curatorial text for the book "Homework" published by photographer Claudia Zalla.