A New Light Installation from Genuardi/Ruta

Color photograph of two artists, a woman and man, standing in front of a colorful geometric artwork on the wall behind them and smiling at the camera
Genuardi/Ruta in their American Academy in Rome studio, January 2023 (photograph by Daniele Molajoli)
Color photograph of what looks like many sailboats in water, each with a red light at its mast
Genuardi/Ruta, Luci di via, 2023

The duo Genuardi/Ruta, consisting of visual artists Antonella Genuardi and Leonardo Ruta, returns to Rome this week to debut Luci di via, an outdoor site-specific project curated by Giuliana Benassi for Matèria. The opening at this San Lorenzo gallery (via dei Latini, 27) takes place on Friday, September 29 from 6:00 to 9:00pm.

Genuardi/Ruta formed in 2014 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo. Their time at the American Academy in Rome as the inaugural 2023 Fondazione Sicilia Affiliated Fellows culminated in an installation in the AAR Gallery, titled Le trombe d’oro della solarità (The Golden Trumpets of Sunlight), that was part of the 2023 Winter Open Studios.

Luci di via is an intervention presented as five luminous sculptures that line the perimeter of the gallery’s distinctive building, which was once a pub. The artists’ practice regularly engages with light as a creator of designs and projections within a space.


“These lights are designed for both day and night,” the gallery tells us. “[R]esembling convex sails, each work is characterized by a color and a vegetative carving. During the day, sunlight creates shadow plays with the sculptures, projecting the shapes of natural motifs; at night, electric light radiates from within, highlighting the figurative carvings.”

The work’s title has origins in nautical terminology, referring to a vessel’s light points, which are used not to see but to be seen. “With this subtle metaphor, evoking the desire to signal one’s identity beyond the boundaries of the internal space, Matèria presents a project that engages public space along the streets of San Lorenzo, through the act of seeing.”

The reception for Luci di via will take place concurrently with two other gallery openings: Just sleeping, a group exhibition with Francesco Andreozzi, Janneke Leenders, and Oriente Plazzi Marzotto at Gilda Lavia; and la verità è tutto ciò che abbiamo dimenticato, a solo exhibition of work by Matteo Fato at Monitor.

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