Giuseppe Salvatori, Elvio Chiricozzi, Andrea Aquilanti

The title of this text, going against the laws of mathematical logic, does not give rise to an actual algebraic multiplication, but results in a critical testimony to an innovative and, at the same time, intelligent artistic operation that took place between 2013 and 2014 within the new premises of the contemporary art gallery De Crescenzo & Viesti in Rome. Here, from the encounter among thirty-six collectors, two art gallery managers, one critic and five artists, whose names are Giuseppe Salvatori, Elvio Chiricozzi, Andrea Aquilanti, Davide Dormino and Felice Levini, five solo exhibitions were born, each of which preceded with a preview in which each artist exhibited on only one wall of the gallery thirty-six works of small size, each destined for the respective thirty-six collectors who co-funded the project. Art, which has always put itself in a perspective of persuasive definition of the changing times and, in many cases, has even preceded these, without thereby necessarily and at all costs be avant-garde (at least in the original sense of the term), changes and finds a profitable way of cooperating through self-organization. In the specific instance, it so happens that in the period of deep economic crisis experienced in recent years also by the art world, the different actors or protagonists that are part of the latter (in our case two gallery managers, five artists, a critic and thirty-six collectors) close ranks and find a point of understanding around a circular idea that puts everyone in a relationship of narrow interdependence in the sharing of the artistic event. From the presentation of the thirty-six artworks individually chosen by the respective thirty-six collectors to the solo exhibitions, each designed specifically for the gallery space, from the convivial moments originated from the post-exhibition reception to the meetings with the artists in their studios, the whole season was experienced in the constant active participation of all those involved in the project, proving that art, despite all odds, not only holds on and is able to withstand even the most critical moments, but mostly it is still in the position to generate new and innovative visions of the world, looking ahead and, in this way, putting itself as a bulwark and beacon of the ethical-aesthetic values of society.