Mélanie Matranga: La Volontà

Mélanie Matranga
La Volontà

Curated by Massimiliano Scuderi
October 8 – November 20, 2026

Galleria Solito – Piazza Enrico De Nicola 46, Naples
Ex Lanificio Complex – Staircase B – 1st floor

Opening Thursday, October 8, 2026 – from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

The exhibition season at Galleria Solito opens with La Volontà, a show by Mélanie Matranga, curated by Massimiliano Scuderi. The project originates from a contradiction: the possibility that opposing forces may exchange positions, as in the relationship between domination and resistance.
Throughout the history of human thought, the term “will” has assumed different meanings over the centuries: from the inner force that drives individuals to surpass themselves in the pursuit of new values, to the irrational essence that moves the entire universe behind the deceptive appearance of the phenomenal world (see Nietzsche and Schopenhauer), and ultimately to the twentieth-century conception of human beings as victims of the events dictated by fate.
In today’s complex world, will lies at the root of a range of diverse and conflicting attitudes, including the opposing intentions of the dominant and the dominated.
The sculptures on display are imbued with these contradictions. They illuminate the space while simultaneously dazzling the viewer. Although visitors may sit on them, doing so inevitably involves a certain degree of discomfort. This approach stems from the idea of a cycle in which roles are constantly reversed.
Matranga’s approach is rooted in a deliberate interplay of multiple forms of expression, using layered elements that contribute to the permeability of her environments. By combining a variety of devices drawn from architecture, design, kink culture, cinema, and the music she listens to in the studio, Matranga creates spaces that converge in diverse forms of expression, with surfaces that seem to channel currents of affect.
Within these environments, desire and fiction intertwine without limits, weaving indeterminate narratives imbued with a profound sense of vulnerability and risk.
Alongside the main installation at Galleria Solito, Mélanie Matranga’s film Pharmakon (2022) will be screened during the opening at Punto Zero Atelier, run by Valeria Apicella. The film follows a man living alone on a Mediterranean island whose routine is disrupted by the sudden arrival of a mysterious woman who swims ashore. Unable to communicate, the two develop a strange bond suspended between fantasies, dreams, and unfulfilled desires.

Mélanie Matranga and Massimiliano Scuderi will be present at the opening.

“La Volontà” opens on Thursday, October 8 and will remain on view until November 20, 2026. On this occasion, the fifth issue of NÉA magazine, published by iemme edizioni and dedicated to the exhibition, featuring the curator’s interview, will be presented.

We thank for their collaboration Officina Keller, architect Antonio Martiniello, and Punto Zero Atelier by Valeria Apicella. Galleria Solito is a member of the National Association of Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries – ANGAMC.

The exhibition will take part in the 22nd edition of the Giornata del Contemporaneo on Saturday, October 10. The event is promoted by AMACI – the Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums – with the support of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity, part of the Ministry of Culture’s Department for Cultural Activities.

Mélanie Matranga was born in Marseille, France, in 1985.
Recent solo exhibitions include Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, England; Furiosa, Monaco, France; Villa Vassilieff, Paris, France; Centre d’Édition Contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland; Karma International, Zurich, Switzerland; Studio Indipendenza, Rome, Italy; and Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France.
Her group exhibitions include presentations at the National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic; Le Delta Espace Culturel, Namur, Belgium; the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, France; Le Plateau—FRAC Île-de-France, Paris, France; Fondation d’entreprise Pernod Ricard, Paris, France; the National Archives, Paris, France; CNEAI, Chatou, France; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; and Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund, Germany.
Mélanie Matranga lives and works in Paris.

Title: La Volontà
Artist: Mélanie Matranga
Curated by: Massimiliano Scuderi
Date: October 8 – November 20, 2026
Opening: Thursday, October 8, 2026 – from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm – free entry

Galleria Solito
Piazza Enrico De Nicola 46, Naples
ex Lanificio Complex – Staircase B – 1st floor
Monday – Friday > 10:00 am – 6:00 pm / Saturday and Sunday > by appointment
galleriasolito.com | info@galleriasolito.com | +39 081 304 19 19 
Communication and press editor-in-chief: Marco Polito