Sabina Carla Maria
Alessi

Sabina Alessi was born in Bruges in 1968.
She obtained her Baccalaureate at the European School in Brussels.
In 1992, she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome.
In 1990–91, she held her first solo exhibition at the Lavatoio Contumaciale in Rome, where she established her artistic approach, which focuses on structure-paintings, the marks of which are determined compositionally by the very shape and structure of the stretcher.
Subsequently, she devoted herself to exploring the square, using colour marks to investigate its phenomenal field, ultimately achieving a transgression of forms from the operational field of ‘base by height one hundred and twenty per cent’.
The results of this exploration were showcased in various exhibitions in Italy and Belgium, including the 12th Rome Quadriennale in 1996.
Her exploration also led her to investigate new materials, transforming the genre of painting into a ‘new’ concept of the picture, from sweets to resins, from the unweaving of canvas to the use of lead, and to small rubber animal figurines. These are materials not always traditionally used in painting.
In 2009, at a solo exhibition in Rome, she presented a work created using gloss and satin enamels. Colour, in its physicality and contrast, became the central focus of the work.
She exhibits in various galleries and public spaces in Italy and abroad, most notably at the Filarete Gallery in Empoli (Florence), where she presented a work dedicated to the seven deadly sins. Seven works created using a variety of materials – marble, ceramics, neon, mirror, resin, enamelled iron, etc. – always guided by the belief that the project and the technique are inseparable. In 2019, he unveiled a Corten steel sculpture, ‘Onda 2030’, for the Rectorate of the Tor Vergata University of Rome. Finally, in 2021, he took part in the exhibition ‘Tomaso Binga Locus; Creative Transhumances’ at the Filiberto and Bianca Menna Foundation in Rome, a project that culminated in the exhibition ‘Poesia Muta’ at the Brigade Gallery in Denmark. He teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where he lives and works.

Over the course of the three-year period, the programme will be broadly divided into two parts. The first part will cover the history of decoration as evidenced by the history of art over the centuries, up to the present day. Particular emphasis will be placed on the study and exploration of the various techniques and tools related to the diversity of media, with the aim of enabling students to develop a historical and critical awareness of the different methodologies employed. Students’ practical experience of the above will enable them to use and explore new technologies in the context of contemporary art research. Once students have acquired this knowledge, they progress to the annual single-subject course, which varies over the course of the three-year programme. Once the subject has been selected, students proceed to the design phase, following preparatory studies (ex Tempore), taking care throughout the process to address all the elements required for the realisation of the project, which will cover the following topics: Site-specific design for the allocated space; Landscape interventions; Intervention and definition of a public space; Urban furnishing intervention, etc. For each topic covered, the project must be planned and realised in all its aspects, with particular emphasis on developing and refining the part of the artistic realisation that will be executed in full scale. The artistic intervention will be carried out using techniques and materials specifically designed for the work to be created, culminating in the application of new materials and technologies that form the fundamental basis for research in the field of artistic production. Particular emphasis is placed on research, especially with regard to the materials to be used and the technologies that will be applied on a case-by-case basis for the realisation of the work.

The two-year course in Decoration Techniques aims to provide both theoretical and practical training in the techniques of ‘Grande Decorazione’, ranging from the most traditional methods, such as fresco, mosaic, gilding and stained glass, to more contemporary techniques, such as resin, enamel and plexiglass, to name but a few. The structure of the course is based on the following key points for student development:
– Assignment of a topic, typically closely related to the history and territory of Rome.
– Development of the project through sketches and scaled models.
– Selection of the technique in line with the project, whereby the choice of material used to create the work is closely linked to the subject of the work, so that each individual student can explore one of the Decoration techniques in depth; however, as this is a workshop-based course, students are also involved in the execution of their peers’ projects.
The course concludes with an end-of-year exhibition in a public space in Rome, where students display and present the work they have produced over the course of the year. This phase is highly important, as it encourages students to reflect on the relationship between their work and the architectural space, as well as between their own work and that of their peers. During the exhibition period, the ‘student artists’ will be on hand to take turns explaining the various stages of the installation project to visitors.