BOTANICAL VOYEURISM – OPENING EVENT
22nd September, art'otel Rome Via Veneto
Botanical Voyeurism, Lorenzo Zerbini's New Exhibition
Shades of green in constant transformation, reflections, images of distant worlds, and vegetal presences inhabit the Art Gallery at art’otel Rome Piazza Sallustio from 22 September 2026, transforming the space into an immersive landscape with Botanical Voyeurism, a solo exhibition by Lorenzo Zerbini, curated by Sofia Di Gravio.
Through video, photography, and installation, the artist takes visitors on a journey suspended between nature and technology, reality and imagination, observation and control. This evocative exhibition invites audiences to shift their perspective and rediscover the plant world as a living, complex presence that exists independently of humankind. Plants take center stage throughout the exhibition. Observed, catalogued, and monitored, they reveal the ways in which the human gaze attempts to understand, organize, and at times control that which, by its very nature, continues to grow and transform autonomously.
The exhibition brings together three bodies of work, I Cling to You, Notes on Martian Botany, and Plant Supervision, which together form a visual narrative spanning natural environments, extraterrestrial imaginaries, and technological devices.
In I Cling to You, Zerbini begins with the story of Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis), classified as an invasive species in several U.S. states. Reproductions of historical herbarium sheets are suspended on metal climbing structures, creating an installation that is both delicate and uncanny. Among the leaves appear small casts of Megachile sculpturalis, an insect also considered invasive, symbolizing the unpredictable transformations that accompany the movement of species from one territory to another.
With Notes on Martian Botany, the focus shifts to Mars. A series of eighteen Polaroids, created from images of the planet’s surface made available by NASA, invites viewers to search for potential traces of plant life among rocks, shadows, and ambiguous formations. This imaginary botany, suspended between scientific research and the desire for discovery, reveals how profoundly our ways of seeing are shaped by what we hope to find.
Completing the exhibition is Plant Supervision, a silent color video presented in a continuous loop, created between 2020 and 2024 using footage from private CCTV cameras aimed at plants. Removed from its conventional function, the surveillance device transforms vegetation into a presence to be monitored, autonomous and unpredictable. In doing so, the work challenges the phenomenon known as plant blindness, the perceptual mechanism that often leads us to regard plants as a passive and indistinct background rather than as active living beings.
Art, Design and Hospitality Meet in Rome
With Botanical Voyeurism, the Art Gallery at art’otel Rome becomes a space to explore and experience, where contemporary artistic research enters into dialogue with the hotel’s architecture, design, and atmosphere. The exhibition offers a visual and sensory experience that transcends the traditional boundaries of the gallery space, transforming a visit into an opportunity to observe nature from a new perspective. In the heart of Via Veneto, art’otel Rome continues to present a vision of Rome that is creative, international, and constantly evolving. A place where art and hospitality coexist, and where a visit to the gallery can become the starting point for an evening dedicated to culture, gastronomy, and discovery.
The exhibition will be open to the public from 22 September 2026 to 20 February 2027, daily, with free admission. Throughout the exhibition period, the Art Gallery will also host a programme of events and special initiatives open to the city.
The Opening Continues at YEZI
The Food & Beverage Partner for the opening evening will be YEZI, the pan-Asian Restaurant & Bar located within art’otel Rome. With its sophisticated yet relaxed atmosphere, YEZI will accompany the opening event with carefully crafted cocktails and sharing dishes inspired by the diverse flavours of Asia, offering guests a convivial and memorable culinary experience.
