Genius Loci TTOZOI

Genius Loci, the experimental art project of the Campania-based duo TTOZOI formed by Stefano Forgione and Pino Rossi, returns to Rome, after being presented at Palazzo Massimo in 2017 and traveling across Italy, with an anthological exhibition at the Museo Carlo Bilotti.

The two artists realized the 30 canvases that compose the exhibition at the following three UNESCO sites: the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Amphitheater of Pompeii and the Colosseum. The duo is world-famous for being able to create art with the molds and spores of archaeological sites. They were among the first in the world to “paint” inside the Colosseum, with an astonishing result: hazy landscapes, colors ranging from red to blue to earth and mountains, endless variables of indefinite patterns that captured the soul, the Genius loci of that symbolic place of Rome.

The works are “painted” with natural molds, that is, they are the outcome of a biological process that invests the molds and all the relationships on the canvas during the controlled stay in the historical sites. The raw canvases soaked only in water and flour are completely sealed, enclosed in stacked wooden cases and left in the dark for about 40 days. When the biological process is stopped, TTOZOIs intervene on the canvases, continuing the painting process in the studio.

The duo’s artwork is thus the result of randomness and control. It captures the soul of the place – the Genius loci and the unique and unrepeatable vital essence of the archaeological site where the canvases were planted – by transferring it to the medium and letting the textures spontaneously permeate it.