ROME.- Richard Saltoun Gallery is now presenting the first exhibition in Rome of Atelier dell'Errore (AdE), an artist collective dedicated to visual art and performance. Active since 2015 - but born from a 2002 project -AdE is hosted within the Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia and is composed of 10 neuro-divergent, young artists. The collective has structured itself as an organism, or renaissance workshop, in which each artist is specialised in a particular phase or process of the project. Curated by Eva Brioschi, the exhibition, intitled Die Werkstatt [The workshop], offers a glimpse into AdE's artistic process and daily studio life.

The works in the exhibition originated as a response to a monumental 22-metre long gold leaf frieze, Die Goldkammer, created by AdE for a room in Palazzo Torlonia. The north side of the Palazzo, facing Via Condotti, was destroyed by a fire in 1991. During her first visit to the AdE studio, Princess Olimpia Torlonia recounted that, among the ashes of her palazzo, she found small golden spheres - the melted residue of the gilt ceiling decorations, which inspired AdE's use of gold to imagine the rebirth of a new world populated by animal hybrids from the destruction.

“A little light, like a rushlight, to lead back to splendour.”–E. Pound, Canto CXVI

The exhibition presents a body of work connected to Die Goldkammer, that includes drawings and studies. The exhibition has been conceived as a journey from the inside to the outside, from micro to macro, from the gallery to the palace. A hallway at the far end of the gallery hosts seven Small Mother Cells - forming the cornerstone of an organic structure. Figures grow larger, animals evolve and surfaces enrich as you walk towards the entrance.

“Every time a new work is started, there is no way of knowing when and how it will be finished. The drawing evolves, hand in hand, day by day. If the space of the paper proves inadequate, another sheet is added. And if a stroke seems amiss, unwarranted, or unnecessary, one can only remedy the error with additional strokes. This is Atelier dell’Errore where everything is embraced, included, and, in a certain way, amalgamated.”

On the occasion of the exhibition, the gallery has produced a leporello, initiated by the curator to visually represent the leitmotif underlying the exhibition project, a score of counterpoints between micro and macro, part and whole, inside and outside.

Richard Saltoun
Atelier dell'Errore: Die Werkstatt
Private View January 18th, 2023 - March 2nd, 2023