Diego D. Testolin fell in love with the Fiat 500 owned by a friend of his and decided to make a series of paintings depicting the iconic car; this is how “Cinque100 – Il mito di una popcar” (Five100 – the legend of a pop-car) came to be. Testolin’s exhibition curated by Roberta Di Chiara will be on show at the Liconi Arte gallery in Turin until June 26, after having been set up in October 2017 in the Mirafiori Galerie of the Motor Village, always in Turin, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the 500.
Testolin’s series of colorful oil on canvas and acrylic on canvas represent the 500, in its original version, dating back to 1957, and its modern one, all with a strong “pop” flavor. “But, unlike what happened in the original pop art, in the seriality of Wahrolian memory,” explains Di Chiara, “the seriality that is represented in this solo exhibition has an absolutely positive exception, in every exhibited piece there is a small detail that makes it unique.”
Of particular interest are the two paintings specifically made for this second exhibition: the 500 in the traffic right next to Nuvola Lavazza, the brand-new headquarters of the coffee company; and the very first model depicted in front of Palazzina di Caccia of Stupinigi, where the official presentation of the prototype, a simple plaster model, took place on 18 October 1955. This last canvas links the exhibition to the project by Ruzza Torino dedicated to the true birthplace of the FIAT 500 entitled: “457 Stupinigi Experience”. In the program of which there is, on June 9th, a parade of a selection of 500 from Stupinigi to the city center near the Liconi Arte gallery, and, on July 1st, a closing exhibition of “Cinque100 – Il mito di una popcar” at the Palazzina Reale, to celebrate with art, engineering, and history.
Ilona Catani Scarlett