IUNO INTRODUCING #1: CHRISTOPHER CAPRIOTTI
For the first edition of IUNO Introducing, curator Greta Martina (Bologna, 2000) presents giovinezza (2025), a video work by Christopher Capriotti (USA, 1992) that explores the cyclical nature of history, the recurrence of curious coincidences, and the influence of socio-political developments on interconnected architectural structures.
giovinezza focuses on Benito Mussolini’s alleged visit to Philadelphia in 1926, on the occasion of celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of the United States. His diplomatic gift was a replica of the Fountain of the Sea Horses in Villa Borghese, assembled from 76 modular parts and still installed behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The sculpture embodies multiple layers of history and political meaning, connecting the imagery of ancient Rome, its appropriation by Italian Fascism, and its reception in 1920s America. giovinezza draws on a story Capriotti heard in a bar: he was told that a group of Italian American anarchists, awaiting Mussolini’s arrival, had blown up the house where he was expected to stay. Capriotti’s great-grandfather, an Abruzzese tailor who had only recently arrived in the United States, had joined the crowd that gathered to watch the fire.
giovinezza extends through a sound intervention by AGOSTINO, visual artist, DJ and music producer active between Ostuni and London, invited to present a project co-curated by Ilaria Leonetti (Rome, 1994). For the occasion, AGOSTINO presents Turbo Sud, a project launched in 2018 as an investigation into the contemporary and traditional musical scenes of Southern Italy, moving between documentation, memory and sonic experimentation. His most recent research focuses on the musical memory of anarchist movements in Puglia, recovering songs, compositions and sound traces connected to those political experiences and bringing them back into circulation through contemporary languages. More broadly, Turbo Sud explores lesser-known forms of sonic experimentation within the regional musical traditions of Southern Italy. From Cinema dei Piccoli to Baronato Quattro Bellezze, sound becomes a device for traversing collective memory, bringing fragments, voices and rhythms from distant histories into the present and putting them back into circulation through listening.
Download the critical text here .
Christopher Capriotti (USA, b. 1992) lives and works in New York City. His work has been exhibited in both solo and group settings; highlights include Erika Ceruzzi / Christopher Capriotti presso Squat Soiree e Farewell Tour at Squat Soiree, and Farewell Tour at Atelier FAS; inclusion in the White Columns Artist Registry; and residencies at AUTOMAT in Philadelphia, and Casa Lü in Mexico City. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from Tyler School of Art.
Agostino Quaranta is the moniker of London-based visual artist, DJ, and music producer Agostino Quaranta. In 2023, he released his first EP, ZONA SISRI, featuring remixes by Ehua and Piezo, with London label Le Chatroom, followed by STP U51 for Hundebiss Records. The two releases were composed in his family town, Ostuni, in Puglia, and celebrate the history of Tecnopizzica, rare experiments of the 90s to computerise local traditional music, Pizzica Salentina. In 2018, he founded Turbo Sud, a research and curatorial project exploring different nuances of Southern Italian sonic traditions. Agostino had a solo exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, with the honour of playing inside the Deer Shelter Skyspace by James Turrell. He has performed at international level, including events at Autostrada Biennale, Whitechapel Gallery, Triennale di Milano, and broadcasted on several radios, such as NTS and Radio Alhara.