Since 2019, SAC has built its identity as a constantly evolving workshop.
Each exhibition has represented a stage in an open-ended process; the collection now on display offers the opportunity to observe what has been generated over time, before the process continues to transform – almost as if the workshop paused for a moment, in a break that restores value.
The works on display, in their diversity, have helped define the character of the space: a layered identity, continually reshaped through practice. This exhibition is an exercise in active memory, a survey of the paths and research that have crossed SAC over the years.
The collection, like a collective portrait, bears witness to authentic relationships with the place and the people. Works were selected according to three main criteria: a representative work chosen from each solo exhibition; winning works of the first Luigi Candiani Prize from the first and second editions; and site-specific works created by the artists awarded the artist residencies.
As for the solo exhibitions, the exhibition itinerary opens with QR by Lucrezia Minerva, a canvas created at the end of the pandemic that reflects on the QR code, an indispensable tool of that period. Impact by Diego Asperges, which invites the observer to dwell on the current condition of Planet Earth, a victim of exploitation and atrocity. La grande fabbrica di tessuti (“The large textile factory”) by Francesco Quadri, an unpublished work, donated by the artist and created on a Japanese Moleskine notebook: a visual translation of what, according to the author, took place within the original space linked to weaving. With Creazione, Erica Conti leads the viewer to visualise the body in its dual nature: inner and outer, carnal and spiritual. Francesca, by Giuseppe Barilaro, is a figure on wood not immediately recognisable due to scratches and the treatment of the material, inviting visual reinterpretation. With Scultura organica fluo (“Fluorescent organic sculpture”), Francesco Damiani creates solid and empty forms, suspended and light geometries, using cellulose paste, rubber, and wood. The subjects of Elena Monzo’s Autumn Zoo collage seem to come from another world, floating and dancing in twisted poses. Alessandro Negri, with Frutti maturi (“Ripe fruits”) uses painterly gestures to create tangles reminiscent of nature: branches and roots intertwine and knot around the fruit in continuous motion. La ragazza col melograno, (“The girl with the pomegranate”) a paper sculpture by Vittorio Iavazzo, tells the myth of Persephone, forced to remain in the Underworld after eating six pomegranate seeds, causing the cycle of the seasons. Ernesto Morales, with Clouds XXVIII, explores the ephemerality of clouds, capturing their mutability as a metaphor for the human condition.

Regarding the works of the winners of the first edition of the Luigi Candiani Prize (2022/2023), we encounter Telememoria by the Zeroscena collective (Luka Bagnoli and Elisa La Boria with Silvia Francis Berry), a video work reflecting on memory treated as an object: to be mended and remembered. Ibridazione (“Hybridisation”) by Stefano Zaratin is a warning: pay attention to the planet. The animal world is forced to lose its natural essence in order to adapt to the dystopian transformation already underway. With Dry – cleaning machine, Giampaolo Parrillaimagines a dry-cleaning shop where the bodies of Ukrainian refugees are hung like clothes: those who retain their body after cleaning will hang on racks, those who lose it, from the ceiling. Asako Hishiki creates a series of Japanese woodcuts: Il viaggio #1 (“Journey #1”), in particular, reflects on the theme of travel, through the element of water.

Among the works of the winners of the second edition of the Luigi Candiani Prize (2023/2024), we find Yirui Fang, with Vulcanico (“Volcanic”), which, through the material use of oil, represents tongues of fire that create vortices all over the canvas. Through the mythical figure of Morpheus, the god of dreams, Asya Magnaterra, with L’abbraccio di Morfeo (“The embrace of Morpheus”), accompanies the viewer into their deepest unconscious, in search of the true nature of being.Sanda Skujina, inspired by the primordial gestures of her two-year-old daughter, creates Scarabocchi: marks that reveal an authentic language devoid of superstructures. Giuseppe Gallace, with La passeggiata (“The walk”), investigates the feeling of solitude linked to absence, depicting figures suspended in a desert landscape. With Un attimo prima (“A moment before”), Angelo Farina shows how worry, alienation, and waiting can halt not only time but also the soul of those experiencing them.

Through this exhibition, SAC asserts the power of layering and preservation, realised as a curatorial act of restitution and reinterpretation: an attempt to make works created at different times converse with one another, revealing unexpected connections and reactivating a collective memory. SAC renews its commitment to expand the collection and to build new dialogues, paving the way for future shared narratives.

Sofia De Pascali