The contemporary art gallery CAR was founded in 2014 in Bologna, the brainchild of the current director Davide Rosi Degli Esposti. It began as a project space, and for years, the name of the gallery included the founder’s initials, CAR DRDE. Recently, the gallery decided to make changes and broaden its horizons to pursue new visions and goals. It was renamed CAR GALLERY, and its mission is to promote and disseminate contemporary art and its latest practices, which often involve different media.
Alessandro Roma, Il tutto per non traballare troppo, 2023, partial exhibition view, CAR Gallery, Bologna. Courtesy CAR Gallery, Bologna. Photo: Manuel Montesano
The gallery’s new exhibition program focuses mainly on the younger generations of international and mid-career artists, juxtaposing them with artistic languages from different periods, and creating new and original interpretive approaches.
The basic idea is that of an open and dynamic exhibition space committed to international contemporary art that relates to the territory and its different artistic expressions. This is a place where a vast, passionate public can encounter new stimuli and research that goes beyond trends and conventions.
“My main ambition is always to spread the word, to engage a wider audience in the contemporary art scene, reaching those who may not be real art connoisseurs, but simply curious, to try to create new enthusiasts.”
Portrait of the gallery owner, Davide Rosi Degli Esposti. Courtesy CAR Gallery, Bologna
In conversation with Davide Rosi Degli Esposti, CAR Gallery
When and how did you open your gallery?
It first started out as a project space, then developed a structure over time, becoming an art gallery in 2014, and pursuing a new direction in more recent years. The initial idea was to create an open and dynamic space/project that would not follow the trends, but give ample visibility to contemporary art, and establish a relationship with the local area and the different artistic expressions. An “exhibition showcase” aimed mainly at promoting the younger generation (with a special focus on Italian artists) who uses different media and interacts with the space even with one single work or installation.
CAR’s exhibition space has always been located in the heart of the Manifattura delle Arti, Bologna’s artistic and cultural district. It’s a part of the city that I’m really fond of. I wanted to create a non-neutral space, architecturally speaking, a permanent but also changing space, something different from the classic “white cube”. Nothing has been left to chance. There are architectural features in reinforced concrete and “finished” walls with the plaster left rough. I’m interested in spaces that have their own identity and character so that the artist competes with the surrounding architecture. Also in the past, I’ve always wanted and sought interaction with abnormal, strong spaces that have a great impact.
What made you want to open a gallery?
After my studies in visual arts at the University of Bologna, I had been involved in the contemporary art scene for a number of years. My passion for art, my interest in the art market and my desire to take on new challenges led me to create the CAR project. My main ambition is always to spread the word, to engage a wider audience in the contemporary art scene, reaching those who may not be real art connoisseurs, but simply curious, to try to create new enthusiasts.
Damien Meade, 2022, partial exhibition view, CAR Gallery, Bologna. Courtesy CAR Gallery, Bologna. Photo: Manuel Montesano
The gallery doesn’t bear your name. Tell us how it came into being.
CAR has been the identity of my business for years, or rather since my first experience as a gallerist, when my exhibition space was located in some abandoned premises of a historic Alfa Romeo dealership in Bologna. When I had to choose the name of my first gallery, I came across the majestic sign for the dealership, CAR. An enormous, bright, vertical yellow sign, three storeys high, which since 1961 has dominated the ring road in front of the former Forno del Pane building, today the Bologna Museum of Modern Art. The gallery’s name was already there in that marvelous sign that could be seen by all, an iconic logo and symbol with a strong tie to the area, and a retro yet strongly contemporary style. This was my inspiration for the name of my gallery. CAR is synonymous with dynamism, speed, the contemporary, and travel… a long journey that has engendered many situations and stories, a journey that changes over time, becoming richer and more complete, while always opening up to new challenges and goals. These three capital letters in the lictor style have made me recognizable and identifiable and they continue to be part of my project.
What kind of value does the art exhibited in galleries offer contemporary society? What is the gallerist’s role in Italy today?
To spread and elevate artistic thinking, enhancing excellence and thinking about the gallery exhibitions with an eye to the future. Making culture by sharing it, creating a strong bond with the local area by scouting and also rediscovering artists from the past, giving them new visibility and a new interpretation, placing them in a different and more up-to-date context.
How do you see your gallery in 10 years?
I’m very ambitious and would like to see it grow with the artists and the gallery working together to make this joint project a success. Most of all, the gallery is a story made up of many small pieces in a mosaic of events, works and collections. Above all, I’d like to create a program of beautiful and important works with profound, erudite and brilliant artists, something that society can mirror and identify with. For me, the gallery is a choral project and I’d like it to become a huge polyphonic orchestra in 10 years’ time.
