Luca Rossi joins Massimo Bottura's collection--with a hidden work of art

Luca Rossi is the only artist under 50 to enter with his own work in the new exhibition itinerary ofOsteria Francescana, the restaurant led by Massimo Bottura and internationally recognized as one of the symbolic places of contemporary gastronomic culture. The entry into the exhibition project represents a significant step in the path of the art collective, which will encounter works by Mario Schifano, Gino De Dominicis, Maurizio Cattelan, Elmgreen & Dragset and several others in Bottura’s collection.

The selected work is a Hidden Work, part of a research Luca Rossi has been developing for years and based on a radical premise: to subtract the work from immediate fruition, to protect it, to hide it, to question its very need to be seen. In this project, the center of gravity of the work shifts from the visible to the possible. It is not what appears that defines the meaning of the work, but what could be, what is activated on a mental and critical level in the viewer even in the absence of a fully available image. The work’s inclusion in the new exhibition itinerary of the Osteria Francescana thus takes on a symbolic and theoretical value at the same time. In a context that has become an icon of gastronomic excellence and a cultural laboratory, the work introduces a reflection on the relationship between display and consumption, between experience and spectacularization. If Bottura’s restaurant has over the years redefined the very concept of cuisine as a cultural language, Luca Rossi’sHidden Work puts in tension the idea of the work as an object to be shown, photographed, and shared.

The work was previously presented as part of the Marche Prize, in the section curated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio. Now it continues its journey by entering a context that is not simply exhibition, but symbolic. The Osteria Francescana is not only an award-winning and celebrated restaurant, but a space where art, design, cuisine and storytelling are intertwined in a globally recognized construction. In this setting, the presence of a deliberately hidden work acts as an element of discontinuity and questioning.

Luca Rossi has represented a hybrid figure in the contemporary art scene for years. Artist, collective, blogger and critic, he has built a complex identity that eludes traditional definitions. His practice is not limited to the production of works, but includes constant reflection on the devices that regulate the art world, its power dynamics, processes of legitimation and modes of formation. He founded an Academy dedicated to artists, curators and collectors, developing an articulated projectuality that combines artistic practice, theoretical elaboration and education. In this sense, his work does not end in the object, but extends to the context, discourses, and networks of relationships that define the contemporary cultural ecosystem. For many years Luca Rossi has maintained a critical stance towards the art system. In his view, contemporary art can and should function as a gymnasium and a laboratory. Not a mere space for the production of aesthetic objects, but a place in which to train and experiment our ability to see, read and interpret reality. A reality that includes both the world around us and the private and individual dimension. The entry of his Hidden Work into the exhibition itinerary of the Osteria Francescana reinforces this approach.

Luca Rossi joins Massimo Bottura's collection--with a hidden work of art

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