/ PRESENTATION
TWINER #7 – Street Talks.
Internazionali di Tennis, Roma – Foro Italico
For the 2019 spring edition of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the Rome-based gallery Ex Elettrofonica and Secondome curated the exhibition Twiner #7 – Street Talks, held in both the Corporate Hospitality lounges within the Central Stadium at the Foro Italico and the LEA, Lounge Extended Area.
The show featured 44 works by 34 artists from the world of street art—contemporary creators known for choosing the walls of cities and public spaces as the primary sites for their artistic interventions.
All participating artists began their careers on the street: some with performative experiences using tools like spray cans and stencils, others painting murals, putting up posters, or creating installations within the urban landscape. The selection included international artists from 9 countries and spanned two generations—Generation X and Millennials—highlighting the creative power of a global movement and underscoring the positive cultural impact of art in metropolitan environments.
Originating in the United States during the 1970s, writing and street art were long viewed as a counterculture, often wrongfully equated with vandalism. Yet, in nearly fifty years, they have gained tremendous recognition and evolved into a major global art movement. The movement’s visual language has migrated onto the canvases of the world’s leading galleries, and the market value of its top figures has soared. Street art has become a hallmark of major collectors from the worlds of music, nightlife, fashion, and beyond.
With this exhibition comes the affirmation that street art must be viewed as an essential lens through which to interpret our times. Street art is, simultaneously, space, message, critique, and art.
For this reason, each lounge at the Internazionali featured a different theme to which street art has devoted significant attention in recent years: climate change, borders and migration, social relationships, the metropolis, dissent, and painting. The immediacy and spontaneity of these messages—recognized by society itself as critical issues of our era—make street art a powerful and accessible artistic medium for all.
Art and sport have both emerged as powerful forces within contemporary culture.
Bringing street art into the context of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia is thus an invitation to recognize the vital role both play in reinforcing the value systems of contemporary society—across cities, suburbs, and communities around the world.
Ex Elettrofonica collaborated with SpazioC21, which generously contributed 44 works from its archive for the exhibition.