Claudia Palmira’s Inner Calligraphics opens in Rome with a two-decade exploration of mark and meaning

Rome — A new exhibition at Studio DFB brings together twenty years of artistic inquiry by Rome based artist and art director Claudia Palmira, in a show that moves fluidly between abstraction, materiality and introspection.

Titled Inner Calligraphics, the exhibition opens by invitation on 16 April and runs until the end of the month, presenting an anthological selection of Palmira’s recent and new works.

The project unfolds as a visual journey through layered marks and symbolic gestures, reflecting a sustained engagement with both digital and tactile forms.

Curated within the experimental space of Alberto Di Fabio, one of Italy’s most internationally recognised contemporary artists, the exhibition situates Palmira’s work within a broader dialogue between art, science and perception. Di Fabio, whose intricate, luminous paintings often explore biological structures and cosmic systems, has long positioned his Roman studio as a site of research and exchange.

Palmira’s exhibition comprises four distinct bodies of work, spanning Sumi ink, wood and print. Among them are three series of calligraphic abstractions Prompts, Calasetta and Principles which investigate the expressive potential of gesture and repetition. These are presented alongside Ovid, a group of large-scale works on wood, and Beauty, a singular piece rendered in Sumi ink. Completing the exhibition is Iconics/Poetics, a sequence of approximately fifty small photographic prints.

Installed as a gradual transition from monochrome compositions into colour, Inner Calligraphics traces an evolution not only in palette but in emotional and conceptual depth. The works collectively chart what the artist describes as an “inner exploration”, rooted in her long standing practice in Rome.

Palmira, whose multidisciplinary career spans both fine art and design, has previously exhibited at venues including the U.S. Embassy Tri Mission Gallery and the Circolo degli Esteri. Alongside her artistic practice, she leads the Rome Design Agency, producing creative projects for international clients. Her portfolio includes the art direction of Laudato Sie, an exhibition of 800 year old Franciscan manuscripts staged at Palazzo Braschi.

In addition to her visual work, Palmira is also the founder of an artistic silk scarf line sold at the Metropolitan Opera and the author of Micro Daily Practice. Inner Calligraphics marks her most comprehensive exhibition to date, consolidating two decades of visual experimentation into a cohesive and immersive presentation.

The exhibition will be held at Studio DFB, Via Raimondo Montecuccoli 28a, in Rome’s Pigneto district, from 16 to 30 April 2026.

PS