PERSOnAM marked the debut solo exhibition of artist Annalisa Mercuri, presented between 2021 and 2022 (1). The exhibition was born from a deeply personal and urgent inquiry into the realities of gender, violence, and identity. It was awarded for the standout piece Dunning-Kruger, which received recognition in the 2020 9” Yin Yang competition.
The title PERSOnAM is layered with meaning, drawing from the Latin personam (person), the Italian perso (lost), and the artist’s own initials, AM. This multifaceted wordplay reflects the complex and often conflicting dimensions of womanhood explored throughout the exhibition.
Through a series of mixed media works, including drawing, printmaking, mokuhanga (traditional Japanese woodblock printing), and installation, Mercuri’s practice balances the fragility of form with the weight of subject (2). Delicate textures and thoughtful compositions serve as an intentional contrast to the severity of the themes addressed: gender-based violence, systemic silencing, and the psychological toll of navigating womanhood in contemporary society.
PERSOnAM was both a confrontation and an elegy, a space where the personal becomes political, and where silence is broken not with noise, but with delicacy.
The catalogue of the exhibition is available from here.
Images from the private view:
- https://www.exibart.com/evento-arte/annalisa-mercuri-personam/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=eQYqwFwciZM
Annalisa Mercuri 