The exhibition is intended to be a journey through the allegory of toys and objects from the imagination of children, but still alive and "present" in everyone´s daily experience. Children´s play is an act of absolute freedom, which carves out a space where imagination takes over and where there is a chance to escape from the constraints of reality. It is interesting to dwell on the unexpectedly other perspective offered from careful observers, such as children, who in play interpret reality through the filter of imagination. Freedom, escapism, creativity... Elements that characterize as much the child´s play as contemporary art, which very often enjoys to "playing" with the viewer, questioning his beliefs until to confusing him, revealing cryptic semantic contents in the images, to which the art system itself refers.

The exhibition "TOYS," through some of the most playful works of the participating artists, leads the visitor inside an unprecedented universe of memories and objects belonging to the world of childhood. The exhibition space, transformed for the occasion into a real "playground" of art, is populated with works that are heterogeneous in terms of materials, techniques and subjects, distinguished above all by their ability to convey profoundly different suggestions. The viewer is involved in the playful atmosphere and fascinated by the reinterpretations that come to life in each work; at the same time there is a factor of conscious disquiet detectable in a more mature and adult reading. The adult eyes, and the experiences of the individual performers, also cover the toys with intense meanings, mixed to nostalgia and cynical bitterness.
Play can marry, paradoxically, with the restlessness of modern life and stimulate deeper reflection, as is the case in the photographs of Iranian Shadi Ghadirian, in which gas masks, emblems of a war that is unleashed behind the doorway, creep, like unwanted remnants of a dangerous "game" from grown-ups, into the reassuring picture of a lot of dolls and puppets. Even a harmless ride on a familiar tricycle can be extremely dangerous if a trapdoor opens in its path, as happens in the fascinating "set" set up from Ma Liang. Yorgo Manis'opera produces in the viewer the same sense of astonished discomfort; the head of an innocent to rocking horse is in fact not where one would expect to find it, but severed and placed on a vertical surface covered with writing. However, there is also no shortage of those who take refuge in childhood as a protected horizon from which only positive memories can emerge. And so from the top hat of Tv Boy is extracted the trusty little dog Nico; Riccardo Scibetta presents us with puppets tenderly consumed by time and Maurizio Savini the famous pink chewing gum with which he can to give life to any form. Entirely adult and aware is instead the look of Epvs, able to "play" with the size of toys up to to propose an innovative and ironic reinterpretation. And completely adult is also the digital reworking that Tiziano Lucci proposes in his photographic opera : a strange being to halfway between robot-toy and mechanical machinery, at the limits of a science fiction that populates children's fantasies, but that we feel is getting closer and closer to reality.

Epvs
Born in Germany in 1965, she completed her education to Rome while also working in fashion. Famous photographic works featuring the Barbie doll, a female icon of the modern era. Lives and works to Rome.

Shadi Ghadirian
Born to Tehran (Iran) in 1979. Specializing with a Master´s degree in Photography, she has participated to various art and photography biennials and her works are part of prestigious private and public collections, including the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He currently lives and works to Tehran.

Tiziano Lucci
Born to Rome in 1975, where he specialized in art history and conservation. He has participated to numerous international competitions and has group and solo exhibitions to his credit in Italy, Great Britain, Germany, U.S.to. and Argentina. Today he lives and works between Rome and Milan.

Yorgo Manis
Born in 1981 to Kavala, Greece, he is furthering his studies at the prestigious Goldsmith's University in London. He has participated to numerous international level group exhibitions and art awards, He currently lives and works to London.

Ma Liang
Maleonn´s stage name, was born to Shanghai, China, in 1972. After specialized studies in Art and Graphic Design, Ma Liang went into film production working as an Art Director on numerous films. It is only since 2004 that he has decided to devote himself to photography

Maurizio Savini
Born to Rome in 1962 and a graduate of Sapienza University, he trained at Dessì´s atelier. His sculptures, capable of celebrating through chewing gum a precise historical moment, lead the observer to interact with his own childhood memories. In 2008, he participated in the 15th Quadriennale di Roma.

Riccardo Scibetta
Born to Besana Brianza in 1971, he currently resides in Sicily between Palermo and Cammarata. After graduating in architecture he devoted himself to photography, participating to various competitions and exhibitions. His path is deeply linked to Sicily, his homeland. He uses traditional and digital media, preferring the use of color.

Tv Boy
Pseudonym of Italian Salvatore Benintende, born to Palermo in 1979. He studied to Milan, where he graduated from the Polytechnic and joined to the Italian "street art" scene. He has participated to numerous group exhibitions at international galleries and museums and his ideas have been purchased from some of the most famous Italian and foreign companies. He currently resides to Barcelona.

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