Virna Lisi. Diva and Antidiva: a comprehensive exhibition in Jesi recounts the iconic Italian actress

Virna Lisi. Diva and Antidiva is the title of the exhibition conceived by Mauro Tarantino and curated by Bruno Di Marino, media historian and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, scheduled at Palazzo Bisaccioni Jesi (AN) from Dec. 16, 2023 to May 5, 2024. The exhibition aims to pay tribute to Virna Lisi (Ancona, 1936 - Rome, 2014), a great Italian actress who grew up right in Jesi before moving to Rome and embarking, at a very young age, on her career in the world of cinema, theater and television.

The exhibition, set up in the ground-floor spaces of Palazzo Bisaccioni, reconstructs the career of this great performer, restoring to the public also her private and family dimension, her being a woman and a mother, through the memories and objects of a life. The subtitle diva and antidiva alludes precisely to the two faces of the planet Virna Lisi: on the one hand, the film and television actress-with an important theatrical interlude directed by Strehler, Squarzina and Michelangelo Antonioni-who embodied an eternal model of beauty and elegance; on the other hand, the shy and reserved woman, ready to renounce the star system but not the affections of family. Two seemingly irreconcilable aspects that, nevertheless, strongly characterized Lisi’s personality and traversed the various stages of her existence.

Virna Lisi. Diva e Antidiva is articulated in chronological and thematic order: from the beginnings in the 1950s to the international interlude in the United States and France), from the advertisement-the famous Chlorodont toothpaste that made her known to the general public-“with that mouth she can say anything,” passing through the fertile season of the 1960s to the period of her artistic maturity. The exhibition itinerary, punctuated by explanatory panels illustrating the salient moments of her life and professional activity - is composed of photographic portraits, by authors such as Douglas Kirkland and Angelo Frontoni - pictorial portraits, stage and set photographs, posters and film stills, as well as various objects that belonged to the actress and family photos, the latter materials coming from the Pesci family archives. Excerpts from her most important films and television works are offered in a loop on screens in the various rooms, thus constituting a kind of visual flow, culminating in an immersiveaudiovisual installation created by video artist and theater director Fabio Massimo Iaquone entitled Geometries of Enchantment.

On the occasion of the exhibition, the volume Virna Lisi. Diva e Antidiva, edited by Bruno Di Marino and published by Danilo Montanari Editore. The elegant and prestigious publication dedicated to the actress, consisting of 176 richly illustrated pages, contains an extensive essay by the curator and other authoritative contributions, detailed fact sheets of all the film, television and theater works (about 130) in which the actress participated, as well as several photographic contributions from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Cineteca Nazionale and the Virna Lisi Foundation.

On the occasion of the exhibition, a film review has been organized in collaboration with the Res Humanae association, which will screen Fabrizio Corallo’s documentary Virna Lisi the woman who renounced Hollywood and several feature films starring the actress at Jesi’s Il Piccolo cinema theater.

Another event related to the exhibition is the competition for videomakers and graphic artists in the field of digital art, entitled Virna Lisi: Italian icon, which has as its object the creation of a site-specific visual mapping. The winning works will be projected on the facade of Palazzo Bisaccioni during the exhibition period.

The exhibition is realized by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Jesi, the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia-Cineteca Nazionale and the Virna Lisi Foundation, thanks also to the important contribution of audiovisual and photographic materials from the archives of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia-Cineteca Nazionale, as well as additional images and documentary material provided by the Virna Lisi Foundation. The exhibition also has the collaboration of Rai Teche and the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, Rai Marche, the Marche Region and the Municipality of Jesi.

Free admission Opening hours: Monday - Sunday 9:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. / 3:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Tel. 0731 207523 - email: info@fondazionecrj.it - www.fondazionecrj.it Office

Virna Lisi. Diva and Antidiva: a comprehensive exhibition in Jesi recounts the iconic Italian actress

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