Past
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A Savage Kind Of grace - Kottie Paloma
8 July - 15 September 2025 Sala Nova Andrea Festa presents Kottie Paloma: A Savage Kind of Grace, a new series of pencil drawings that navigate fractured realities, archetypes of power, and the absurdities of contemporary existence. Through raw yet precise mark-making, Paloma creates an uneasy balance between humor and empathy, asking what we cling to when familiar structures collapse. Read more -
Autoritratto - Xintong Gao
8 May - 20 June 2025 Sala Nova Sala Nova presents a solo exhibition "Autoritratto" by Xintong Gao. Opening on May 8th, 2025, from 6 to 9 p.m., and on view until June 20th, 2025, the exhibition is hosted at Lungotevere degli Altoviti 1, Rome, Italy. For this occasion, five oil and acrylic paintings are presented, offering an intimate reflection on identity, transformation, and resilience.
Although known for his abstract practice, Gao approaches the act of self-portraiture as a private ritual, marking pivotal transitions in his life. His works arise from discarded canvases or fabric once used to clean brushes—materials layered with memory, imperfection, and the traces of past errors. "Underneath the self-portrait lies an abandoned work, a failure. I painted over it to remind myself that mistakes also carry value."— Xintong Gao.
In painting over these remnants, Gao affirms the profound beauty of rebirth and the narrative power of imperfection."The fabric had been used to clean brushes for so long that no space remained. I was about to discard it when I suddenly saw something: a garden, a hidden reflection of myself among flowers."— Xintong Gao.
His self-portraits are not crafted from a classical mirror's reflection but from unexpected, humble surfaces—a dessert saucer, a forgotten fabric—places where new selves are glimpsed in the margins of the everyday."Usually, I make a self-portrait with a mirror beside me, like the old masters did. This time, it came from the reflection in a small dessert saucer."— Xintong Gao.
Through Autoritratto, Xintong Gao invites the viewer into an act of introspection and resilience, celebrating the imperfect surfaces where transformation quietly blooms. Read more -
Works on Paper
21 March - 25 April 2025 Sala Nova Andrea Festa Fine Art presents the second edition of SALA NOVA with Works on Paper, a group exhibition by Sinead Breslin, SunJing, and Sebastián Hidalgo. Bringing together eight works on paper, the exhibition explores fragility, tranquility, and ambiguity through the distinct practices of three international artists. On view from March 22 to April 25, 2025, at Andrea Festa Fine Art in Rome and online on Artsy until May 20, 2025, the exhibition marks a continuation of SALA NOVA’s mission to foster experimentation and alternative narratives. Read more -
Artist's Medicine - Yann Leto
24 January - 25 February 2025 Sala Nova Andrea Festa inaugurates Sala Nova, its new experimental project space, with a solo exhibition by French artist Yann Leto (b. Bordeaux, lives between Rome and Madrid). Presenting a video, a painting, a sculpture, and three new paintings with acrylic sculptural interventions, this exhibition marks the beginning of Sala Nova’s program dedicated to artistic play, risk, and reinvention. Read more
