Zzz…Desert

Galleria Nazionale di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea — 2025
25/03 - 18/05

A suspended desert, caught between dream and memory, comes to life in Zzz…desert, an immersive installation where time seems to stretch and dissolve.
Francesca Leone transforms salvaged materials into an arid, dreamlike landscape populated by rocks and vibrant roses – symbols of fragility and resilience. The
work draws inspiration from a childhood memory: accompanying her father, a film director, on movie sets. Here, the desert is not just a physical place but an inner space, a realm of reflection and transformation.
Within the stillness of the exhibition space, sound becomes an integral part of the artwork. Marco Turriziani’s compositions – the buzzing of bees, the whisper of the wind, the harsh metallic reverberations – heighten the sense of suspension, amplifying the perception of a landscape balanced between reality and imagination.
For over fifteen years, Francesca Leone has explored the value of forgotten materials, recovering oxidized metal sheets and corroded surfaces from abandoned
construction sites and deserted places. Through a patient process of transformation, discarded and marginalized matter is reborn as art, in a cycle of rediscovery and regeneration. The delicate application of color hints at the possibility of renewal, even in the most desolate contexts.
With Zzz…desert, the artist invites us to pause and reflect, to embrace a sense of care—for objects, relationships, and the environment. In an era dominated by speed and distraction, her work serves as an antidote to superficiality, calling for deep listening and attentive observation, urging us to recognize the value and fragility of nature.