Making a Scene / Fare una scenata

The phrase Fare una scenata (Making a Scene) commonly designates a public display of emotion—anger, sadness etc.—often involving exaggerated gestures and facial expressions, screaming, possibly violence against objects or people. In any case, there is no scene made without an audience. The idea is to take the cliché serious and explore its layers of meaning as a means to understand the relationship between artistic process and its aftermath in space, object or image, and audience reaction. Isn't there a kind of “unwritten contract” between the artist and his or her audience, regarding what they “deliver,” whether it's meant to be entertainment, enlightenment, or estrangement?

Curated by frieze editor Jörg Heiser, “Fare una scenata” was the first group show at Fondazione Morra Greco in Naples. It featured the work of nine international artists who are either commissioned new work, or asked to adapt existing work specifically to the picture-gallery and basement spaces of this newly established foundation located in an old palazzo in the heart of Naples.