Ten years after the untimely death of Gianfranco Matarazzo (1973–2015), a young gallery owner and tireless promoter of contemporary art, a major group exhibition dedicated to him is taking place at the showroom of ITALIANA PROGETTI - I.PRO srl in Collepiano, Torrecuso (Benevento). The initiative, conceived by Tommaso De Maria and Lorenzo Canova, is intended as a concerted tribute to a figure who left an indelible mark on the cultural landscape of Sannio and the art world. The exhibition brings together fifty Italian and international artists, invited to pay homage through their works to a man who knew how to imagine and build spaces for experimentation, debate, and openness. Over the years of his career, Gianfranco Matarazzo courageously conceived and realized public exhibitions, often in unconventional spaces, pursuing highly significant projects capable of attracting attention and creating dialogues between different artistic languages. With his gallery GiaMaArt Studio, founded in 2006 in Vitulano, Matarazzo launched a bold and visionary project, transforming a small town in the Benevento area into a hub for contemporary art. His work was distinguished by the courage of his choices, his willingness to take risks, and his genuine attention to younger generations of artists. The Torrecuso exhibition, therefore, is not intended to be merely an exhibition, but rather a vast mosaic of diverse personalities united by the common desire to remember those who, with dedication and passion, transformed the face of the art scene, not only locally, and breathed new life into contemporary culture.
Gianfranco Matarazzo was a man of extraordinary passion and a deep love for contemporary art. His cultural adventure left a profound mark, which is today recalled and relaunched with this group exhibition, in the spirit of memory and gratitude. The following artists have joined this significant event dedicated to the memory of Gianfranco Matarazzo: Veridiana Altieri, Vittorio Asteriti, Michele Attianese, Costantino Baldino, Giuseppe Barilaro, Alessandro Bazan, Angelo Bellobono, Stefano Bolcato, Sara Cancellieri, Gianluca Capozzi, Maurizio Cariati, Linda Carrara, Maurizio Carriero, Jacopo Casadei, Alberto Castelli, Giorgio Cattani, Sonia Ceccotti, Francesco Cervelli, Andrea Chiesi, Antonella Cinelli, Marco Colazzo, Rudy Cremonini, Marco Demis, Fulvio Di Piazza, Mauro Di Silvestre, Stefano Di Stasio, Stefania Fabrizi, David Fagioli, Ettore Frani, Vincenzo Frattini, Annalisa Fulvi, Federico Lombardo, Angelo Maisto, Antonio Mastronunzio, Luca Matti, Klaus Karl Mehrkens, Elena Monzo, Adriano Nardi, Carlo Alberto Rastelli, Mario Salina, Marta Sesana, Alessandro Signorino, Alan Stefanato, Silvano Tessarollo, Nicola Felice Torcoli, Marco Verrelli, Igor Verrilli, Dany Vescovi, Giulio Zanet, Fernando Zucchi.