Cities are huge palimpsests, made of layers of time that accumulate and traces of the past that coexist with the new, in a continuous transition between what no longer exists and what has yet to take shape. In this context, the transformation of spaces becomes vital: places change function, identity and meaning, but remain part of the neighborhood, somewhat marked by time, their birth forgotten by new generations, yet still present.
Spazio Morgagni was born just like this: a former barber store on 2 Via Morgagni, carried on for over ninety years by its historic owner, was taken over by gallery owner William Purita and transformed into something new, without losing its soul. The sign has remained the same, “Gino Barbiere,” while inside the space has found a new life, amid drawings by Stanislao Lepri and futurist sketches.
Born in 2024, Spazio Morgagni is an art gallery, but it is an art gallery in its own way: more than a “white cube,” it is a gallery-workshop, an archive at once collective and personal, constantly changing. Its founder describes his work this way: “search, dig, find,” speaking of objects as encounters, each with a provenance, a place and a history, to which unexpected anecdotes are interwoven, often fundamental to understanding their value and identity. And each work continues its journey, because, as he says, “a new chapter is added to this story when a work is purchased.”
Thus, between a pointillist canvas, a sink, and a gilded frame still in search of its subject, the space continues to transform, just like the neighborhood, and the city that welcomes it.
Would you like to visit it?
[đź“· Courtesy of Spazio Morgagni; Instagram spaziomorgagni ]
