Paura e Fobia

Is there something that bothers you just thinking about it? Perfect. That's where we start.
Galleria d’Arte Studio CiCo presents Fear and Phobia, a group exhibition inviting the public to step into an ambiguous territory where the boundary between attraction and repulsion becomes thin, and often even a bit amusing.
Conceived and curated by Cinzia Cotellessa and Elena Pietrangeli, the exhibition aims to shift the gaze: no longer avoiding what disturbs, but observing it closely, perhaps with a smile that isn’t entirely at ease. Because some things are frightening, others are disgusting... and some do both at the same time.
The works of artists Ugo Angelini, Franco Bacci, Simona Capuano, Cinzia Cotellessa, Mana Greco, Barbara Maresti, Olimpio Monticelli, and Elena Pietrangeli create a journey that doesn’t follow a reassuring direction. It ranges from the grotesque to the absurd, from the deformed everyday to images that linger more than expected. Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we hesitate, sometimes we feel like stepping away — but not completely.
It is, openly, an exhibition that is revolting. In the most interesting sense of the term: an exhibition that does not seek to be “beautiful,” but to be necessary. It works on discomfort, rejection, excess, transforming them into a shared experience.
It is a show that plays with the audience’s reactions without asking for permission. It can surprise, disturb, amuse. And for that reason, it remains.
At the inauguration, art critic Professor Piero Zanetov, Professor Aldo Lombardo, who will address the theme of phobias and fear, and lawyer Fabrizio Abbate, president of Assodiritti and the Artificial Intelligence Living Room of Enia, will contribute with a focus on the relationship between art and artificial intelligence. The project The Upside Down, inspired by the series Stranger Things, featuring concept and costumes by Barbara Maresti, IA photography curated by Rocco A. Romano, and the performance The UNLOVED by actress and model Chiara Pavoni, will also participate.
The performative route will also include a tableaux vivant with Emanuela Bonafaccia, Elisa Patriarca, Maria Rosaria Giglio, Sandra Sestili, Mirella Moretti, Rossella Papa, Virginia Condè, and Adriano Virgili.
Fear and Phobia does not offer answers but opens a space. It is up to the visitor to decide whether to cross it all the way or stop before the end.
Inauguration:
April 13, 2026, at 6:00 PM
Period:
April 13 – 27, 2026
Opening Hours:
12:00 PM – 7:00 PM (excluding holidays)
Venue:
Galleria d’Arte Studio CiCo, Via Gallese 8/10/12, Rome
Entering is easy. Staying, perhaps a little less.
Web: studiocico.it