Alba Savoi: “The Mark of the Fold” — Retrospective in Athens

Alba Savoi: “The Mark of the Fold” — Retrospective in Athens

On Thursday 2 April at 18:00 the Gramma_Epsilon Gallery in Athens opens a personal retrospective dedicated to Alba Savoi, curated by Paolo Cortese and Rosanna Ruscio. The exhibition traces the main phases of her practice from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

About 40 works are on display, including paintings, collages, sculptures and artist books, which highlight Savoi's sustained interest in the materiality of supports and the motif of drapery and fold.

What to expect

• Folded and cut canvases that question the autonomy of the painted surface.
• Collages and artist books made with diverse materials (paper, terracotta, experimental media).
• Photographic works and digital elaborations where repetition and sequence serve as investigative tools.

The exhibition emphasizes how the fold operates for Savoi not merely as a visual element but as a conceptual strategy: a method that opens the canvas to multiple meanings and potentialities. This approach is a guiding principle across her decades-long practice.

Significance

Works on view connect Savoi's practice with theoretical considerations and historical references—from material investigations of canvas to baroque drapery motifs and later adoption of technologies like photocopy and digital editing. Recurring features include manipulation of the support, seriality and the treated photographic image.

Catalogue and curatorial project

The exhibition is part of the project “Le ragazze di Mirella”, dedicated to Mirella Bentivoglio and the artists she supported. A bilingual catalogue (Italian and English) accompanies the show, edited by Paolo Cortese and Rosanna Ruscio with contributions by several critics.

Short biography

Alba Savoi (Rome, 1929–2022) trained initially in graphic arts and miniature painting before turning to visual art at the end of the 1960s. In the 1970s she focused on the relationship between painting and materiality, producing works with folds, cuts and direct interventions on fabric. She also explored artist books, photocopy-based processes and, from 2000 onward, digital techniques. Her works are held in major public collections in Italy and abroad.

Practical information

• Venue: Gramma_Epsilon Gallery, Athens
• Opening: 2 April 2026, 18:00
• Curators: Paolo Cortese and Rosanna Ruscio
• Catalogue: available in Italian and English

This retrospective is recommended for visitors interested in material experimentation and the role of feminist networks in contemporary Italian art, offering a detailed overview of an artist who made the fold both a form and a concept.