Diego Cibelli

Diego Cibelli
Una vita all’aria aperta
2025
Porcellana biscuit 
 

Diego Cibelli (Naples, 1987) is the author of the new permanent installation of the Fondazione Luigi Rovati: A Life in the Open Air.

“As I moved through the museum’s spaces and discovered, through the works on display, the world of the Etruscans, I sensed a civilisation deeply connected with nature. I was particularly struck by the depictions of fantastic animals and divinities with naturalistic forms: my first impression was that of encountering a people passionate about the joy of living in the open air.”

From these reflections emerge hybrid and delicate figures, capable of narrating both past and present through an aesthetic of transformation and wonder.

The installation begins in the entrance hall of the palace, which comes alive with Etruscan-inspired faces enclosed within four medallions rich in floral elements. In the entrance hall of the Piano Nobile, sculpted figures with ancient features float suspended in a circular dance, while on the wall a pair of birds flies outward — into the open air.

From the façade overlooking the garden emerge four trees inhabited by faces and anthropomorphic figures striving to rise and see beyond, surrounded by deer, rabbits, and birds freely moving across the façade.

In recent years, through his work, Cibelli has brought porcelain back to the centre of contemporary art, transforming it from a decorative material into a medium of thought. His sculptures move between naturalistic evocations and symbolic forms: animated bodies that tell of our shared origins — “from water and light, from flowers and fire” — and celebrate, above all, the value of encounter and transformation.