The Museum of Cultures in Lugano (MUSEC) is about to inaugurate a highly resounding exhibition event, destined to stimulate debate on contemporary art and its profound connection with history. From 5 June to 19 October 2025, the Spazio Cielo in Villa Malpensata will host “PRAISE MMXXV“, the seventh stage of the acclaimed cycle «Global Aesthetics». The protagonist of this exhibition is Mr. Savethewall, pseudonym of Pierpaolo Perretta, an Italian artist recognized for his singular reinterpretation of Street Art.
The exhibition features thirty-eight portraits of modern and contemporary artists, alongside a self-portrait of Perretta himself. All the works are made with spray paint and stencils on canvas, a technique that, although rooted in the aesthetics of Street Art, is here elevated to a new museum context. The project is the result of in-depth research conducted by the Museo delle Culture di Lugano in collaboration with the artist, focused on the value and meaning of portraiture in the history of art.
The title itself, “ELOGIA MMXXV”, is a clear homage to the “Eulogy of Illustrious Men” by Paolo Giovio, a 16th-century humanist famous for his vast gallery of portraits. Mr. Savethewall has chosen to recall this tradition, creating his own gallery of artistic figures who have marked his path and his creative identity. The portraits are distinguished by a game of allusion and dissimulation: the black silhouettes of the artists – including Alighiero Boetti, Amedeo Modigliani, Lucio Fontana, Frida Kahlo, Niki de Saint-Phalle – are made recognizable by the addition of iconic elements of their works, graphic or figurative, which attest to their identity and open to multiple interpretations. Each work is accompanied by a “eulogy” in the form of a short poetic text, conceived in dialogue with Francesco Paolo Campione, director of MUSEC, offering an additional key to interpretation.
Pierpaolo Perretta, born in Como in 1972, adopted the pseudonym Mr. Savethewall in 2013, after a career in management. His transition to art was marked by a respectful approach to urban space: instead of defacing walls, he fixed his works on cardboard with adhesive tape bearing the words “SAVETHEWALL”, hence his stage name. This gesture, combined with a subtle sense of humor and incisive social criticism, quickly earned him the attention of critics and the public. Having abandoned anonymity and his previous profession, Perretta opened his atelier in Como, in via Paolo Giovio, almost as if to foreshadow the link with the current project at the Museo delle Culture in Lugano.
Over the years, the artist has explored different languages, from photography to sculpture, maintaining a critical reflection on the musealization and commercialization of Street Art. The collaboration with the Milanese gallery owner Deodato Salafia since 2017 has allowed Mr. Savethewall to refine a language that, while drawing on urban techniques, addresses the circuit of galleries and museums. “ELOGIA MMXXV” represents a further evolution of this research, revisiting themes dear to him such as recognizability and popularity, and investigating the mechanisms of contemporary image consumption.
A distinctive aspect of Mr. Savethewall’s work is his sensitivity to the current linguistic impoverishment. At the Museo delle Culture in Lugano, the artist’s self-portrait stands out on the work “The Magic of Language” (2023), a network of letters that also inspired the large site-specific installation that welcomes visitors. The self-portrait, which closes the exhibition path, is accompanied by a eulogy in which Perretta expresses his boundless inner search, a mosaic of values that offers a solution to his “reptilian brain” and restores the beauty of passing time.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue in English, edited by Massimiliano Vitali and Pierpaolo Perretta, which delves into the themes of urban art and popular culture. “ELOGIA MMXXV” fits perfectly into the “Global Aesthetics” project of the Museo delle Culture di Lugano, which aims to explore creativity in contemporary art by comparing it with global cultural traditions, contributing to a substantial revision of the status of the work of art in a multifocal context.
For more information on the exhibition and visiting hours, we recommend consulting the official website of the Museo delle Culture di Lugano.
