Features
June 2019
2019 Open Studios, Musical Performances, and Readings
Hundreds of people filled the studios, gardens, and terraces at the American Academy in Rome to witness visual, musical, and literary works created by Rome Prize Fellows, Italian Fellows, and more.
A Starry Night Honoring Paola Antonelli and Luca Guadagnino
AAR celebrated its fifteenth annual McKim Medal Gala at Villa Aurelia in Rome. Over five hundred guests gathered on June 5 to honor Museum of Modern Art curator Paola Antonelli, along with the award-winning film director and screenwriter Luca Guadagnino, with the McKim Medal for their exceptional contributions to the arts.
“Things You Can’t Predict Happen Here”: A Conversation with Anthony Doerr
Claudia Trezza interviewed Anthony Doerr (2005 Fellow, 2019 Resident) a few days after his reading at Macro Asilo in Rome.
Scrutinizing “The Academic Body”
The human body has gone through a lot since the American Academy in Rome was founded more than a century ago.
May 2019
In Pursuit of the God Dionysos in Ancient Apulia
To catch a glimpse of the long-lost beliefs of the ancients and their visions of the afterlife, one needs to look at the images of the gods that they painted on their pottery. This was the argument Thomas Carpenter made during a talk at the American Academy in Rome, where the archeologist delved into his decades-long study of how the local Italic people of Apulia, in the South of Italy, viewed the afterlife as “an eternal banquet.”
The Academic Body
AAR presents The Academic Body, an exhibition that spans over a century to tell the changes in the representation of the body in art and society.
A Water-Wise World
Claudia Trezza recaps a recent Academy symposium titled “Water and Culture: A View from Rome.”
AAR Receives Gift to Establish Philip Guston Rome Prize Fellowship
The American Academy in Rome is pleased to announce a new Rome Prize Fellowship this year. The Philip Guston Rome Prize in Visual Arts, established by Musa and Thomas Mayer with a $3 million gift in memory of the artist Philip Guston, further marks Guston’s long-standing relationship with the Academy and the city of Rome.
April 2019
The Density and Depth of Surface
Two 2019 Residents, Giuliana Bruno and Alice Friedman, focused on the subject of surfaces for their Conversations/Conversazioni event earlier this month.
Announcing the 2019–20 Rome Prize Winners and Italian Fellows
The American Academy in Rome has announced the winners of the 2019–20 Rome Prize and Italian Fellowships.
March 2019
Reflections on “A Difficult Heritage”
Many urban projects realized during the Ventennio remain part of the Italian landscape. Together with architectural monuments and works of art, they constitute surviving traces of Fascist visual culture in contemporary Italy. These delicate issues were the subject of an international, interdisciplinary conference recently held in Rome.
Review of “Cinque Mostre 2019: Δx Displacement”
Photographs of ancient ruins. A Sicilian “Moor’s Head” shoots a laser out of its cyborg eye. A painting of a ship dotted in watermelon halves. A puppet show reenacting the beheading of Saint Cecilia.
February 2019
Cinque Mostre 2019: Δx Displacement
Composed of collaborative projects, under the collective title Δx Displacement, Cinque Mostre 2019 features work by current Rome Prize Fellows, Italian Fellows, and invited artists installed in various sites throughout the McKim, Mead & White Building at the American Academy in Rome.
January 2019
Elizabeth Rodini Appointed as AAR’s Next Andrew Heiskell Arts Director
The American Academy in Rome announced that scholar and curator Elizabeth Rodini has been selected as the next Andrew Heiskell Arts Director, a position based in Rome.
The Body and the Road to Justice
In a December 5 talk at MAXXI, Rome’s preeminent contemporary art museum, the renowned contemporary artist Wangechi Mutu (2018 Resident) recalled the statues of the Virgin Mary that filled the Catholic primary school in her hometown of Nairobi, Kenya.