Nautilus – Sections of Comparative Zoology at the Fortezza Nuova

Forno Project, the project-space of Galleria Fidanda, presents “Nautilus – Sections of Comparative Zoology”, a two-person show that brings together the works of Diego Azzola (Bergamo, 2000) and Asya Dell’Omodarme (Livorno, 1997), curated by Sara Poli and Cecilia Faleni.

The exhibition project takes inspiration from the famous nautilus opened and sectioned by the explorer and naturalist Nicolò Gualtieri (1688-1744), whose scientific work represents a reference point in malacology history. Like Gualtieri’s nautilus reveals the internal geometry of the shell through methodical dissection, the exhibition space is not organized according to a hierarchical or taxonomic order, but like a sequence of contiguous compartments, where the works inhabit a condition of coexistence and resonance.

The exhibition will be open in the Forno Room at Fortezza Nuova every day from Monday to Saturday from 9.00 to 13.00 and from 14.00 to 17.00 (closed on Monday mornings). It will be possible to visit the works until February 21, 2026, the closing day of the exhibition.

The exhibition includes paintings and installations that conceptually dialogue with specimens and artifacts from the marine and terrestrial world, in particular from malacology – thanks to the collaboration with the Museum of the Certosa of Calci – and taxidermy, with the contribution of the Museum of Natural History of the Mediterranean in Livorno. The artists construct a deliberately unstable and bizarre catalog, where traditional scientific criteria are subverted and taxonomies are revealed as fragile, open to new possibilities of relationship between species and natural realms. “Nautilus – Sections of Comparative Zoology” questions the limits of scientific classification and proposes an alternative system of knowledge, where the impossibility of definitive categorization becomes an expressive and conceptual tool.

With the Patronage of the Municipality of Livorno and the Tuscany Region.

Artists’ Bio

Diego Azzola (Bergamo, 2000) is a visual artist who lives and works between Bergamo and Milan. He trained at the G. Carrara Academy of Fine Arts in Bergamo, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in 2023 and his master’s degree in 2025. His research spans painting, sculpture, and installation, exploring themes related to metamorphosis, hybridization between natural and artificial, and the tension between life and non-life. He has exhibited in spaces such as Candy Snake Gallery (Milan), Palazzo Parasi (Cannobio), Galerie Frankfurt Westend, FOMO Art Space (Zurich), Galleria Lorenzelli (Milan), and Castel Belasi (Trentino). In 2025, he presented the exhibition “Stone and Coral” with Gloria Tomasini at Candy Snake Gallery.

Asya dell’Omodarme (Livorno, 1997) is a visual artist who lives and works between Livorno and Venice. She trained in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, where she obtained her first-level diploma in 2020, and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, where she obtained her second-level diploma in 2024, attending the F atelier. Her painting research investigates natural forms and hybrid figures, putting natural imagery and emotional dimension in tension. She has exhibited in spaces such as Museo G. Fattori (Livorno), Palazzo Candiani (Venice Mestre), Magazzini del Sale (Venice), SAC Spazio Arte Contemporanea (Livorno), Fondazione POMA Liberatutti (Pescia), and Stazionearte (Milan). In 2023, she was the winner of the Premio Mestre Pittura. Her works are in public (Ca’ Pesaro) and national and international private collections.