Casarini Due Torri Art Prize

Verona, 12 October 2026 – ADD-art’s return to the 21st edition of ArtVerona fair, held from 9 to 11 October, proved a resounding success. After four years away, the Spoleto-based gallery returned to the fair where it first began its journey, winning the Casarini Due Torri Hotel Art Prize, dedicated to painters under 40, with Olga Lepri. The award, alongside Ilaria Pennoni’s selection as a finalist for the Dowedo-Namec Prize, confirms the gallery’s commitment to supporting the research and practices of emerging generations of artists. This year’s participation holds particular significance in ADD-art’s history. It was at ArtVerona, fifteen years ago, that the curatorial collective led by Lorenzo Rossi and Alessia Vergari was founded, initially exhibiting in the Independents section. In 2014, following its transition into a gallery, ADD-art joined the main section, becoming a regular presence until 2022. Throughout this journey, the gallery has taken part under the artistic direction of Andrea Bruciati, Adriana Polveroni and Stefano Raimondi, returning this year to the fair under the leadership of Laura Lamonea. Since 2022, the gallery has focused its efforts on an ambitious project to promote contemporary art and the local area, based at the historic Palazzo Due Mondi in Spoleto (in Umbria, Italy), in collaboration with the Fish&Chic association. A dynamic programme of exhibitions and initiatives, built around intersections between different disciplines and dialogue with the city, has continued to foster and expand ADD-art’s research. The gallery’s return to Verona was marked by the award presented to Olga Lepri’s BIAS (2025), which has been acquired for the Due Torri Hotel collection. The ceremony took place on Saturday, 10 October, at the prestigious Verona hotel. The jury, comprising collectors Andrea Boghi and Giovanna Marianacci, Silvano De Rosa, director of the Duetorrihotels Verona group, and Franco Vanetti, the group’s general manager, recognised the artist’s practice as a mature and original voice in contemporary painting by emerging artists: “Through a refined technical mastery that combines ink and oil painting, the artist explores the canvas as a liminal space, a threshold between figuration and abstraction, bodily perception and the dreamlike realm,” the jury’s statement reads. “In her work, chromatic layering and the fluidity of organic forms evoke a profound investigation into the distortions of perception and the vulnerability of the flesh, translating complex psychological states into visions of extraordinary poetic intensity.” The jury also highlighted Lepri’s ability to conceive of painting as an immersive, sensory experience that redefines space and establishes an imaginary dialogue with the legacy of Pino Casarini, a twentieth-century master whose work brought together painting, narrative and architecture. The award builds on the considerable interest already generated by Lepri’s work in Spoleto, where, in 2025, she presented a two-person exhibition at Palazzo Due Mondi alongside Benedetta Galli. Alongside Lepri, ADD-art presented works by Andrea Ceddia, Alessandra Baldoni and Ilaria Pennoni at ArtVerona. Pennoni’s work attracted particular attention, earning her a place among the finalists for the Dowedo-Namec Prize. In her assemblages, everyday objects meet zoomorphic ceramic elements created by the Umbrian artist, giving rise to unexpected juxtapositions that challenge the function of objects and habitual ways of seeing. For ADD-art, this participation renews its connection with the fair that witnessed its beginnings and brings to the national stage the research and promotion of contemporary art that the gallery has been developing in Spoleto.