Nosedive

Discover the extraordinary works of Valentina Diena, selected as a finalist for the prestigious VAF Foundation Award 2024. Her creations, exhibited at the PUNTO SULL’ARTE gallery in Varese, Italy, have been recognized for their innovation and beauty. Don’t miss the opportunity to admire these unique works at the MART Museum in Rovereto.

Diena Valentina Icons 04 arrives at the Gallery with her “Icons,” everyday objects, the icons of Jeff Koons and more, all “wrapped” with white adhesive tape and the fiery red word “FRAGILE.” From the “balloon dog” to the banana, the gun, and the universally known image of Mickey Mouse, everything is created with her beloved colored pencils, which she has not abandoned since she was 15 years old. Her work is almost a spiritual exercise, a kind of mental self-control that must adapt to the slow, and sometimes very slow, pace of pencil drawing, even though she wishes to finish it quickly. A work rhythm consonant with the idea of a completed work, created without adding anything from the outside.

After graduating from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Diena immediately began collaborating with PUNTO SULL’ARTE, achieving great success and widespread appreciation from the public. Further confirmation of her exceptional talent is the current exhibition of her works at the X VAF Foundation Prize in Kiel, Germany, where they are on display at the local Stadtgalerie. Additionally, one of her works titled “Farewell,” dedicated to the famous “Dr. Martens” shoes, was purchased by the German foundation. The exhibition will then move to the Mart in Rovereto, where the winners of the important competition, which aims to promote innovative positions in contemporary Italian art and communicate them in Germany, will be announced, awarding a prize and also through exhibitions and publications.

Diena Valentina says: “My work is a reflection, in line with contemporary pop, on how certain objects become iconic. They are so widespread that their shape alone is enough to tell their story.

Diena Valentina Icons 04 serie, Making them ‘white,’ neutral, covered with the word ‘FRAGILE’ is to put a kind of distance between me and them, because often today we are content with what we see without digging deeper. The fragility also indicates that of the material from which the objects, icons of appearance, are made.”