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I first met Valerio Nicolai because I was going the wrong way at the metro exit. It’s a true
story. I was in Milan, in Corso Buenos Aires. I was late, I had to go to a birthday party and to get
there I had to take the train. So I went to take the metro. I got the ticket, I passed the turnstiles
and at some point I didn’t know where I was anymore. Incredible, you say. Yet so. I stopped a lady
and told her that I had to take the train, and she told me that I needed to go on foot, the station
was really close, I had to go out and turn left. So I went up again onto the street, turned right and
just in front of the stairs ran into Eva Fabbris, who was making a tour of galleries together with
Valerio. She introduced us and told me he was a very good painter. With hindsight, I can say that
was quite true. He invited me to join them. At that point I had no idea of where I was, so I gladly
accepted. Looking back, I have never been so happy to have missed a birthday.
We went to see the other galleries. Valerio and
I did not exchange a word, but we exchanged
numbers.
The first time I got to look at his work more
closely was a few months later, during his re-
sidence in Viafarini. In one corner of the big-
They took me to Carpaccio, because in one of
the windows was a work, called The Crevasse,
by Valerio – a ‘salad.’ It consisted of many
strips of painted paper, placed in a bowl just
like a salad. I found it very suitable to the
place, a window of a restaurant transformed
into exhibition space.
N+G-K,
2016, intervento site specific, assieme ai lavori di Andrea Kvas e Enej Gala, dimensioni variabili, tecnica mista /
site specific intervention, together with the works of Andrea Kvas and Enej Gala, dimensions variable, mixed media
Veduta dell'installazione presso la AplusA gallery, Venezia / Installation view, AplusA gallery, Venice
Courtesy of the artist
