American artist Suzanne Unrein is exhibiting in Italy for the first time at Studio d’Arte Raffaelli with There’s a hell of a good universe next door, a solo exhibition populated by dreamlike scenarios unfolding between mythological idylls and vividly colored still lifes.
For the concept and title of the exhibition, the artist drew inspiration from the final verse of E. E. Cummings’s poem Pity this busy monster, manunkind, which identifies the rediscovery of nature’s purity as an antidote to the problems of contemporary society. Unrein interprets this idea through the recurring themes of her work: untamed landscapes, the relationship between humanity and its animal self, the hybridization of nature and technology, and the celebration of instinct.
Born and raised in California before moving to Florida and later to New York City, where she currently lives and works, the artist remains deeply connected to the places of her childhood and adolescence, evoking their lush vegetation in her paintings.
Her imagery continues to be shaped by the conflicting sensations of attraction and fear that challenge human rationality when confronted with the wild. For this reason, the body of medium-sized canvases features surreal juxtapositions of human beings freed — or liberated — from constraints and conventions, gentle animals, and hybrid creatures such as minotaurs and werewolves. Another series, consisting of large-format paintings, is devoted to floral still lifes in which technological elements emerge as an integral part of the plants and flowers depicted.
The exhibition is completed by a series of works on paper, including medium-sized gouaches with a more resolved composition and small-format drawings that reveal clues to the instinctive and gestural compositional technique characteristic of Unrein’s painting practice.
The opening will take place on Thursday, June 18 at 6:00 PM at Studio d’Arte Raffaelli, in the presence of the artist. The exhibition will run until September 25, 2026, and will be open Monday to Friday from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM and from 2:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Saturdays by appointment only.
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