Animal house | June 2025

Von Buren Contemporary presents

Animal House

Group show featuring the works of

ANDREA BARZINI
BATO
GIUSEPPE GALLACE
GIANLORENZO GASPERINI
MAITI
MORENO PETTE
IRENE ROSSETTI
BEPPE STASI
LUCA ZARATTINI

Von Buren Contemporary is delighted to present ANIMAL HOUSE, a summer group show celebrating the animal world via the playful and often surprising gaze of nine contemporary Italian artists.

With a large selection of paintings, sculptures and drawings, the effect will be to transform the gallery into an irrepressible space inhabited by familiar, wild and imaginary creatures.

Bright colours, unexpected combinations and visual suggestions guide the visitor on a journey that mixes the enchantment of childhood with the irony of adulthood.

In the small oil paintings of Andrea Barzini, animals are presented in human guise, striking poses or sporting outfits. Roman artist Bato instead returns to one of his key themes – the whale, with a single giant canvas and a series of polished bronze sculptures.

Young Calabrian artist Giuseppe Gallace takes the dog as his subject, with five canvases depicting the animal in untamed surroundings. Gallery sculptor Gianlorenzo Gasperini, who is normally associated with the human figure, will unveil a new sculpture of a large, imperious-looking cat.

Piacenza-based artist Maiti creates a whimsical whirlwind of horses, dogs and mice made of papier-mâché and wire; while Roman artist Moreno Pette transports us to a primordial world populated by strange, savage or even extinct creatures.

The light and humorous touch of young painter and illustrator Irene Rossetti is applied to a series of surreal drawings, where life-like reality is combined with fantastical additions.

Calabrian watercolourist Beppe Stasi uses his astonishing technique to create horses, dogs and bulls of understated elegance, while Luca Zarattini, born in Codigoro (Ferrara), focuses on the figure of the cat with two large charcoal drawings which cleverly conceal their subject.