Giustini / Stagetti presents Piedistalli, a solo exhibition by Francesco Faccin that offers a poetic and radical reflection on the role of the pedestal-not merely as a base, but as a threshold, a presence, and an active device in shaping the viewer’s gaze. The exhibition brings a series of mostly unseen works, with the aim of questioning the traditional relationship between the artwork, the pedestal, and the viewer. Throughout history, the pedestal has played a fundamental—yet often overlooked—role in the display of art. More than a physical support, it is a cultural and symbolic device that helps define the meaning of the object it holds, as well as its spatial and perceptual relationship to the viewer. Over time, the pedestal has taken on various meanings.In this exhibition, it is examined not only as a practical tool, but as a protagonist in the dialogue between artwork and space. Since antiquity, pedestals have served to elevate statues above the ground, imbuing them with a sense of sacredness—whether in public squares, temples, or museums: what is placed on a pedestal is deemed worthy of attention, contemplation, and reverence. During Neoclassicism, the pedestal expressed formal balance and discipline. With the avant-garde movements of the 20th century, however, its role began to be questioned. Artists like Marcel Duchamp and Constantin Brâncuși explored the boundary between art and context, object and support. Brâncuși, in particular, made the pedestal an integral part of the work itself, dissolving the conventional hierarchy between base and sculpture. The pedestal supports, elevates, and reveals. Though it often remains in the background, it acts—through its form, material, height, and placement, it guides our gaze. It is never neutral. Rather, it mediates between the artwork and the world, between the artist and the viewer. It elevates and defines; it serves, yet speaks. In the silence of the exhibition space, it is the pedestal that tells us what deserves to be seen. Various pedestals, diverse prototypes, distinct gestures: each one does not simply propose a form, but suggests an action, a stance, a way of engaging. They invite us to look from below, gaze from above, to protect, to support, to isolate, to highlight. The pedestal thus becomes a central agent—prompting movement, interaction, and reflection. The exhibition opens a window onto an ongoing twenty-years research practice: a continuous experiment, an open-ended excercise in understanding. Pedestals from the series Assemblaggi (2000), Serial Planks (2016), and Regina. Della Scultura (2021) are featured, representing key moments in this evolving investigation. Each prototype is crafted using a variety of materials and techniques, creating a dynamic dialogue with the objects they support – sometimes through resonance, sometimes through contrast. Wrought iron, cast aluminum, solid wood, galvanized sheet metal, Pyrex, stainless steel: each material brings its own visual identity, symbolic charge, and tactile tension. Every pedestal is a sculpture in its own right an autonomous yet never neutral actor in the construction of meaning. On these pedestals will be placed a selection of objects curated by Francesco Faccin himself, drawing from both his personal collection and the Giustini / Stagetti archive. Historical works will be presented alongside “objects of travel”—primitive and spontaneous artifacts that hold strong symbolic significance for the artist. The exhibition invites us to reconsider the pedestal not as a passive base, but as a symbolic threshold: the precise point where an object becomes art, and where our gaze begins to shift. “Giving voice to the silent servant” is, in this sense, an invitation to revalue what usually goes unnoticed—to dismantle visual and conceptual hierarchies that govern not only the exhibition space, but perhaps the social order as well. It is an act of listening to what usually remains silent. A celebration of what is marginal—and is brought to the center.

-

October 17th - 22nd November, 2025 | 10:30 am - 07:00 pm

Galleria Giustini / Stagetti, Via Gregoriana 41, Roma