The exhibition The Sum of the Parts was born from the desire to create a domestic space, a living room that lives and vibrates through all its expressions, shaped and defined by the works of Simona Pavoni (San Benedetto del Tronto, 1994), in a delicate dialogue with a selection of pieces by Giacomo Benevelli (Reggio Emilia, 1925).
Simona Pavoni’s artistic practice begins with her ability to perceive space as a collection of elements that she can shape and interact with through her works. Starting from the threshold — where light immediately reveals its fundamental role in the exhibition — she presents her Screens, works made of perforated pattern paper that invite the viewer to pause and contemplate.
Behind them, an intimate living room space takes shape, inspired by 1960s design, the heart of the home, where encounters and exchanges naturally happen. Here, the works of Pavoni and Benevelli rest in a dialogue of forms, a play of intuitions that create a living environment.
Pavoni’s Doilies series becomes the focal point of the surfaces, holding within them an inevitable emotional memory that contrasts with the material they are made of: broken glass, which reveals fragility and questions the boundaries of things.
Also by Pavoni, the Pores series of canvases turns into skin — through its patterns, a kaleidoscopic background appears beneath the surface. Beside them, another work opens an unexpected dialogue.
But the living room is also, above all, a place for dialogue and possibility where the body relaxes and the mind opens to the world. This idea of continuous transformation is also found in the work of Giacomo Benevelli, whose soft and welcoming lines appear both in his geometric and more realistic sculptures.
The animals in the exhibition take their place and coexist in constant proximity to the human figure, once again revealing that for both Benevelli and Pavoni, sculpture does not merely appear in space, it inhabits it. The works of Pavoni and Benevelli create a space in evolution, where clean lines find softness and continuity in Benevelli’s sculptures, which explore with great awareness the themes of life — in its most philosophical forms, but also in the tender spontaneity of animals.
In this way, Simona Pavoni engages with the ability to shape the parts of the whole in which we exist, creating a dimension of continuity and coexistence.

Simona Pavoni (San Benedetto del Tronto, 1994)
Lives and works in Milan. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in 2017 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino and her Master’s degree in 2020 from the Brera Academy in Milan.
Among her solo exhibitions: The Recipe, Schaumbad, Graz, Austria (2025); Buone Maniere, Ex Maglierie Mirella, Milan (2024); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Notgalerie, Vienna, Austria (2022); Zona Notte, Depositomele, Milan (2022).
In 2025 she takes part in Cremona Art Week, curated by Rossella Farinotti, within the Brigantia project by Annika Pettini. Also in 2025, Mare Karina Gallery presents her solo show À Jour in Venice.

Giacomo Benevelli (1935–2011)
Artist, sculptor, and designer, representative of the Milanese school of abstraction, Giacomo Benevelli met major Italian and international masters such as Moore, Huelsenbeck, Kokoschka, and Arp. Through these encounters, he developed his own formal language, recognized by leading scholars of contemporary art, which established him as a key figure in the Italian and international art scene from the late 1950s onward.
In 1963, the prestigious Felix Landau Gallery in Los Angeles dedicated his first solo exhibition in the United States to him. The success was remarkable: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton purchased several of his works and placed one of them — Organic Matrix — at the center of the film set of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, in which they starred.
In 1964 he took part in the 42nd Venice Biennale. During these years, he also collaborated with design companies, creating, among others, sculptural lamps that became true icons, such as ROTO and ARABESQUE. Throughout his career, he exhibited in many solo and group shows, including: Galleria Gunther Franke, Munich (1961); the 7th Sculpture Biennale at Middelheim Park, Antwerp (1965); the 9th Quadriennale, Rome (1971); Galleria Stendhal, Milan (1981); Casa del Mantegna, Mantua (2000); Poetiche del ’900, Castel Ivano, Trento (2004); Sculture en plein air, Palazzo Stupinigi, Turin (2006); Sculture alle porte d’Oriente, Archaeological Museum of Brindisi (2006); Italian Prints – 1875–1975, The British Museum, London (2007); Monument for the Ippolito Nievo Literary Park, Gazoldo degli Ippoliti, Mantua (2008).
His works are included in several public and private collections, among them: the British Museum in London, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and the National Gallery of Art in Johannesburg.

IT


ARTISTS 

Simona Pavoni
Giacomo Benevelli