Open studio • Accademia di Como Aldo Galli
Opening: june 26, h 18.30
Open for visit on june 27, from h 10 to h 17
Spazio Messina 1
Fabbrica del Vapore
Via Giulio Cesare Procaccini 4, 20154 Milano - Free access
Concept and organization: Marta Bianchi
Coordination: Elettra Bresciani
In collaboration with Accademia di Como Aldo Galli and the Municipality of Milan
From June 23 to 29, 2025, the spaces of Careof, along with the artist residencies and Messina 1, part of the Municipality of Milan, hosted within Fabbrica del Vapore, will welcome OPEN STUDIO — featuring works by students from the Accademia di Como Aldo Galli: Gerta Hameli, Francesca Spagnoli, Noia, Sancha, and Tristan Le Barrois d’Orgeval.
Imagined and curated by Marta Bianchi, course coordinator and president of Careof, this initiative aims to bridge the gap between academic training and professional artistic practice. It offers students the opportunity to confront firsthand the demands, nuances, and limitations of producing work within a residency and communal living experience.
At the heart of the project is the process of creation and negotiation, as the students work and interact for the first time within a professional Italian context — that of Careof and Fabbrica del Vapore.
Rather than a traditional exhibition of completed works, this is a space to test out ongoing research and share it with the public, under the guidance of the faculty and professionals who have supported the students throughout the academic year.
What emerges is an intensity of diverse approaches — at times in dialogue, at others in contrast — stemming from the urgencies each student has chosen to explore in their own artistic journey. The pedagogical approach of the first year of the MA in Painting & Digital Art focuses on developing critical thinking, personal research, and a deeper understanding of the contemporary art system and its dynamics.
Listening, reciprocity, autonomy, and dialogue are values practiced throughout the academic year and now put to the test during this week of continuous work at Fabbrica del Vapore.
Free from the pressure of a “final result,” students have been invited to remain within the process — embracing the contradictions and challenges of bringing their work into an exhibition context, rethinking and revalidating the legitimacy of their artistic output.
The invitation was to step outside the Academy, to activate what was learned, and to place their work in a public space — spending time together, building shared experiences, and forming bonds that might continue beyond their studies. The result is a supportive micro-community, learning and working together in synergy.
The exhibition will include paintings, developed through workshops with artist Lupo Borgonovo; Performance practices, guided by artist Davide Savorani; Multimedia and editorial works, supported by Giacomo Raffaelli, cultural operator and researcher.
Within Spazio Messina 1 at Fabbrica del Vapore, a collective studio takes shape — a space where students and audience can meet.
Special thanks to Careof Lab, and in particular to Marta Cereda, Pietro Coda, Elia Camboni, and Emanuele Zamponi.
Heartfelt thanks to the Director of Accademia di Como Aldo Galli, Cristina Casaschi, and to all the staff — especially Federica Didonna, Jana Mangundayao, Giordana Ingrassia, and the MA faculty in Painting & Digital Art: Arianna Baldoni, Lupo Borgonovo, Sandra Cane, Giacomo Mercuriali, Giacomo Raffaelli, and Davide Savorani.
BIOGRAPHIES
Gerta Hameli (2001, Prizren Kosova, RKV) is a visual artist whose work explores everyday life and the cultural history of her upbringing. Using light, color and gesture, She aims to convey emotions tied to specific memories and events. Her journey began at 14 in an art studio, where she learned the fundamentals of form, contrast, and perspective.
This early foundation led to a degree in Visual Arts – Painting from the University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina,” choosing to stay close to her roots. Seeking to expand her perspective, she enrolled in the Painting and Digital Art master's program at Accademia di Como Aldo Galli, where she is currently in her first year. Her work has been featured in four collective exhibitions in the cities of Tirana, Prishtina, Tetova and four university shows. In October, She curated and presented her first
solo exhibition at “Social Cultural Space Tetova” in Tetova where she displayed a selection of works from her Bachelor’s .
Francesca Spagnoli (2002, Bagno a Ripoli, Italia) graduated in Law last October with a thesis focused on images generated by artificial intelligence. She felt the need to explore visual language more deeply and she is now pursuing a Master’s degree in Painting and Digital Art at the Accademia di Como Aldo Galli.
She considers herself an empathetic and introspective person. In her artistic practice, She investigate themes that are both deeply personal and universally shared, such as error, identity, and human relationships. The multidisciplinary nature of her current program has enabled her to experiment with a variety of media (including painting, digital art, and performance) broadening and enriching my visual language.
Beyond her passion for art, she loves writing: She published two short stories and contributed to two poetry collections.
Noia (1982, Thailand) is a visual artist working across photography, moving image, painting, and digital media. Her practice has transformed from a reportage into a more poetic visual journey - where images move beyond narrative into abstraction and experiential interpretation, all to transcends cultural boundaries and artistic mediums through evocative form, colour, and movement.
Awards
• Winner - Newsprint Award 2014.
• Shortlist - Sony World Photography Awards 2013, Campaign Category in Professional
Competition.
Selected Exhibitions
• Contemporary Photography and Video Salon. Auction Center Taipei. Taiwan. 2019.
• Solo exhibition. The Reminders Photography Stronghold. Japan. 2014.
• Asian Women Photographers’ Showcase. Obscura Festival. Malaysia. 2014.
• Thailand Projection. Image Singulieres, Sète. France. 2014.
• Photo Phnom Penh. Cambodia. 2013.
• Sony World Photography Awards. Somerset House London. England. 2013.
Sancha (2002, Lisbon, Portugal) is a non-binary artist and designer whose practice explores themes of gender, sexuality, and the interplay between the collective and individual body. Working across illustration, design, painting, and installation, their work often engages with educational projects and has a focus on activism and the fight for human rights. They earned a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from the Upper School of Arts and Design in Caldas da Rainha in 2023, and are currently pursuing a Master’s in Painting and Digital Art at the Accademia di Como Aldo Galli, Italy. Last year
they curated and organized their first exhibit titled Corpa Sentida, a collective exhibition where they participated as an artist and designer. Later they also were part of a collective intervention in the permanent collection of the José Malhoa Museum titled ÂNCIA: state-action-consequence in Caldas da Rainha.
Tristan Le Barrois d’Orgeval (2002, Paris, FR) is a visual artist.
His artistic practice was born during his middle and high school years. Struggling to concentrate in classes, drawing in his notebooks allowed me not to be too restless; while his hands were in control, his attention came back and forth from the teacher to the drawing. Later on, he structured his artistic practice around unconsciously guided movements, trying to offer expression to unconscious entities, may those be from his unconscious or alternative structures. Some unconscious retranscriptions are imprinted with organic-like structures and extensions, others are more dotted with anthropogenic symbols.
Instinct, reason and their interplay.
He is fascinated by writing, signs and trees.
Now enlarging his practice to different medias, he explores and navigates through the flaws of contemporariness through writing, drawing, painting, video and music making.
CREDITS
OPEN STUDIO
Works by Gerta Hameli, Francesca Spagnoli, Noia, Sancha, Tristan Le Barrois d’Orgeval
Students of the MA in Painting & Digital Art at Accademia di Como Aldo Galli
Concept and organization: Marta Bianchi
Coordination: Elettra Bresciani
In collaboration with Accademia di Como Aldo Galli and the Municipality of Milan
image credit: Francesca Spagnoli
Image credit: Noia
Image credits: Sancha
Image credit: Sancha
Image credit: Gerta Hameli
image credit: Francesca Spagnoli
Image credit: Noia
Image credits: Sancha
Image credit: Sancha
Image credit: Gerta Hameli