Closing an exciting exhibition season at the Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome is the highly anticipated new solo show by street artist MILLO.
Acclaimed and loved by collectors all over the world, the Italian painter returns, after repeated sold out shows and the prestigious collaboration with Wynwood Walls, with a rich series with a touching and emotional theme.
This extraordinary collection entitled “Do Not Open Before 2023" is composed of 11 canvases and two previously unseen paintings on wood root and carries with it a precious content: that of memory jealously guarded by the artist with the intention of being revealed only on the date he has set.
Thus Millo dedicates to his Italian public the magical moment of opening with him a mysterious box kept secret until now.
The work 'Time Capsule' begins a journey of perceptions through the complex web of human existence.
We are with him as we insert the secret code, turn the key and emotionally lift that dusty lid from which collective memories are released, making our hearts beat again and taking us back to that time so far and so near that we all experienced together.
As we look at the artist's memories that still crinkle their eyes as they have been awaken after being dormant for years, we retrace the long corridors to return to our rooms as youngsters and almost watch from the outside, as we rewind the tape of a cassette, lift that heavy receiver and smell the metallic odour of the cables curled up inside, those cables that brought us calls as much awaited as unexpected.
The voices of those we loved come back to life and our hearts almost swell to bursting as we realise what we are seeing...
In sharing his past, the artist has selected what has imprinted itself in his heart forever, and with the series “Do Not Open Before 2023" Millo draws inspiration from 13 memories, some are very personal snapshots and others are flash memories, which can therefore be traced back to a striking event that marked our history.
In this analysis, which takes its cue from research into the psychology of memory, MILLO elaborates, along with a selection of moments dear to him, some of the events that have marked humanity and shaped the course of time, showing them to us through the artist's subjective view and letting them roll around on our table, like marbles out of a bag.
Crystallised at the very moment they happened, many of these memories represent fundamental turning points in our collective history. The artistic expression of these significant events offers a unique perspective, showing the artist's ability to capture the spirit of an era.
The evocative power of each work captures the breath of years gone by and reminds us of the fragility and resilience of the human being, so in a puzzle of emotions and subjective reflections we observe to name a few:
'Let Them Kids Alone'. where, as Millo and his cousin jump into bed after doing their homework, someone turns up the volume on the TV and his parents' shout reaches him in his room "It's Down! The Berlin Wall has fallen!
‘The Fall’, where Millo recalls the indelible moment of 11 September 2001. One day before an important university exam, after a summer spent travelling. Like many of us, he hears the news by chance, almost in disbelief. And suddenly it becomes autumn.
With his "Pietas" entitled "I Will Never Surrender", the story of which is inspired by a hundred-year-old tree felled to make way for new buildings, Millo tackles the theme of environmental emergency and in telling himself not to give up he invites us not to stop fighting for our planet.
Immersed in the universe of time, MILLO has embarked on a profound journey of self-discovery, which reveals the link with his true identity: that of a child who has become a man in a world straddling change, globalisation and radical transformation.
And it is precisely in retracing the past that the artist rediscovers his essence and equally his projection into the future. Thus, loaded with meaning, Millo's mission turns its gaze to a distant horizon, which does not conceal the desire for humanity to remember so as not to repeat.
'Do Not Open Before 2023' invites us all to engage in a dialogue between art and memory, in which the whispers of a past that illuminates the present echo on each canvas.
While MILLO, with extreme care prepares numbered Time Capsules for his audience by slipping into each one something special never to be forgotten, we invite you to join us and meet the Artist to celebrate the power of memories and their deep connection to the artistic expression of the soul.
What awaits you is an extraordinary journey through time, as personal as it is universal, that begins with the opening on 30 June at DCG's Rome headquarters in Via dei Pettinari 76.
