he solo exhibition of Alex Ciattaglia, titled “Movie Faceless Art Collection,” will be held from Wednesday, October 21 to Sunday, October 25 at Clivo Bistrot (located at Clivo Rutario 63 in Rome). The event is curated by Simona Micheli, creative director of the cultural association FramLab Ets.
Alex Ciattaglia presents the Movie Faceless Art Collection, a chapter of his project dedicated to cinema. Standing before each canvas, viewers instantly recognize the characters even without seeing their faces. They are identified by a dark suit, a specific walk, or a scene watched dozens of times. After all, certain images remain engraved in our minds much longer than the facial features of the actors who portrayed them.
In these artworks, frames and faces are reduced to their absolute essence:
- "My name is James": The elegance of a spy becomes a matter of posture and the cut of a suit.
- "Pulp Fiction" and "Forrest Gump": A single detail, a color, or a pose is enough to replay the movie in the viewer's head.
These are not celebratory portraits, but open images. The blank space where the face should be functions as a screen upon which everyone can project their own version of the story.
The exhibition also traces a personal artistic journey. Alongside the artist's early canvases—which are sharp, graphic, featuring flat color blocks and bold contrasts—are his most recent works, where the color becomes more dynamic and the brushwork remains visible. These two painting styles answer the same question: what is left of an icon when you take away its face? Often, the answer is... "everything you need."
The Artistic Process and Background
Every piece begins as an iconic photograph that deeply influenced the author's imagination. This image is digitally reworked to create a layout, which is then transferred by hand onto the canvas, minimizing the image even further. While his early works (between 2023 and 2024) focused on flat applications, pure colors, and Pop-inspired contrasts, his recent pieces allow for a more expressive, painterly gesture.
Alex Ciattaglia is a self-taught painter born in 1964 and based in Rome. He picked up his brushes in 2022 after a lifetime spent in music and marine biology. Since then, he has worked with acrylic on canvas, drawing inspiration from cinema, music, and pop culture. His project, Music & Movie Faceless Art, follows a simple rule: the face is missing. Posture, attire, color, and gesture are all that remain—just enough to recognize the icon, leaving the viewer to complete the picture. Every artwork is a unique, hand-painted piece. In June 2026, he exhibited at Oltrecontemporanea at Villa Alberti in Signa (Florence).
FramLab ETS is a cultural association aiming to raise awareness on highly topical issues through events, exhibitions, cultural shows, and social gatherings, always placing art in all its forms at the center of reflection.
Simona Micheli, President and Creative Director of the association, has always been passionate about all forms of artistic expression. For this exhibition, she chose to blend art with an exclusive venue dedicated to high-quality food.
Clivo Bistrot, the venue hosting the artworks, is an exhibition space that beautifully combines culture and conviviality.
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