Jago: the Exhibition in Rome in 2022

Very often, during our live virtual tours or after watching our social media content, I get this remark: today we don’t have the genial artists that existed in the past, such as Raphael, Bernini, Michelangelo, etc.

My answer to this remark is that today the genius of our modern artists is to be found in other places, especially around technology. See for example the work of Quayola, in a recent exhibition that took place in Rome, who generated art through computational methods.

On the other hand, if we look at the classical arts, we’ll probably find very little.

Think of it this way: a wealthy person in the 1600s would invest into a painting of his/her portrait, made by the best painter available. Today a wealthy person is much more likely to commission this portrait to a really good photographer rather than a really good painter.

This is just an example to say there has been a shift of tools and techniques through the centuries.

In this scenario, when an artist is able to convey strong messages to a big audience through classical methods.. We are talking about something really special!

Jago is a contemporary artist, who conveys modern messages through classical methods.

His sculptures speak to your gut, not to your brain. You look at these works and you feel a punch in your stomach. The drama, the passion, the realism.. It hits you as the sight of something real does.

His works are currently exhibited in Palazzo Bonaparte, in Piazza Venezia. The exhibition will last until July 3rd, 2022.

Who is Jago?

Jago is an Italian artist from Frosinone, Italy born in 1987. He is also defined as “the Social Artist” due to the fact that he shares a lot about his works and creation process through social media.

When he was only 24 years old, he was selected by Vittorio Sgarbi, an important art critic and historian, for the Biennale di Venezia in 2011. On this occasion he was selected for the portrait of Pope Benedict XVI, which is one of his most famous works.

Since 2016 Jago has worked in Italy, China, USA and the Emirates.

The Jago exhibition in Rome in 2022

The first major personal exhibition of Jago is now taking place in Rome and it will be running until July 3rd, 2022.

Jago’s exhibition is held at Palazzo Bonaparte, right in the heart of Rome, in Piazza Venezia. Palazzo Bonaparte is right opposite the Vittoriano, which gives a wonderful background to some of these incredible works.

For things to do and see nearby Piazza Venezia, read this.

Let’s see some of the works that you can see in this exhibition.

Excalibur

The name of this sculpture reminds us of the “Sword in the Stone”. But this time, instead of a sword, we find a gun.

See a time-lapse of the creation process here:

La pelle dentro (the Skin Inside)

Apparato Circolatorio (circulatory system)

Here Jago translated the frequency of the heartbeat into an artwork. He basically started from a 3D digital animation of a heart beating. He then divided this animation into 30 pictures, one per each contraction of the heart. And then he sculpted a heart for each of these pictures. In ceramic. These hearts are exhibited in the correct sequence, to resemble the animation of a real heart.

Venere (Venus)

This is not the kind of portraits that you would expect from Venus. This is another interpretation. Venus, the goddess of beauty, here is old and she is showing off the beauty which is inside.

This statue talks about a life that has been lived, while we can still recognize some signs of the beauty that used to belong to this body, also thanks to the posture which recalls the ancient Roman sculptures of Venus.