THE AGE OF NOW: PicassoDefi Project hosted at Sofy Gallery NYC Unveils a Lyrical and Existential Journey Through Contemporary Art

Exhibition Dates: June 25 – July 17, 2026
Location: Sofy Gallery, New York City
Organized by: PicassoDefi Project

NEW YORK, NY — This summer, New York City’s contemporary art landscape welcomes a profound, choral examination of our epoch. From June 25 to July 17, 2026, PicassoDefi Project hosted at Sofy Gallery NYC will present THE AGE OF NOW, a landmark group exhibition bringing together an extraordinary roster of contemporary artists. Moving far beyond a mere chronological marker, the exhibition framework redefines the “now” as a complex, tactile, and psychological battlefield where memory, identity, and raw matter collide.

In an era dictated by fleeting digital stimuli and visual saturation, THE AGE OF NOW serves as an urgent, curatorial counter-narrative. The exhibition invites viewers to step into a liminal sanctuary where the canvas and the camera cease to document reality, functioning instead as devices to dissect the invisible. Here, the contemporary moment is not a static point in time, but an unstable, evolving fault line—a condition to be endured, inhabited, and ultimately redeemed.

The exhibition weaves together a sophisticated tapestry of mediums, showcasing artists who seamlessly bridge technical historical weight with raw emotional vulnerability:

• The Alchemical & The Spatial: Viewers will confront the deep, meditative abysses of Chiara Pretti, whose structured acrylics and gold leaf stretch between the earthly and the transcendent. This spatial inquiry finds an architectural echo in Giovanna Orilia, who purifies the canvas into metaphysical, cosmic landscapes where geometry balances the poetic weight of human migration and displacement.
• The Geological & The Material: The weight of the earth takes center stage with Jacopo Berlendis, whose visceral, labyrinthine ruins of raw earth and absolute blue immerse the viewer in a time that is both ancient and urgent. This organic dialogue deepens with Nada Graffigna, whose canvases breathe as living ecosystems, capturing the vital sap and self-regenerating power of nature through fluid washes and heavy, tactile texturing.
• The Psychological Portrait: The human form is radically deconstructed. Adriana Soares delivers an archaeology of the face, where photography is torn away from the instant, letting skin assume the scarred, enduring porosity of stone and concrete. Concurrently, Dimitri Milesi (DIMA) achieves a striking stylistic synthesis, confining the piercing, existential screams of classic expressionism within the ironclad restraint of a minimalist geometric cage.
• The Dramatic Light & Collective Trauma: The theatricality of the past is weaponized to heal the present. Paolo Angelillo’s Caravaggio RELOADED project utilizes a sharp, relentless spotlight to slice through darkness, turning domestic objects into hyper-contemporary vanitas. This journey toward catharsis culminates in the luminous, shifting atmospheres of Paolo Fontana, whose landscapes absorb the silent grief of collective trauma, translating it through mother-of-pearl and gold dust into a universal promise of rebirth.

An element of monumental significance is the inclusion of the internationally acclaimed master Rabarama. Her legendary research into the human figure as a complex, text-covered surface introduces an ultimate, authoritative chapter to the show, presenting the contemporary body as both a living archive and a symbolic linguistic battleground.

THE AGE OF NOW is not merely an exhibition to be observed; it is a space of forced deceleration. By orchestrating a brilliant short-circuit between micro-human experiences and macro-cosmic orders, PicassoDefi Project hosted at Sofy Gallery NYC establishes a temporary decompression chamber against the noise of the world. It compels us to look at the cracks of our current reality not as signs of definitive collapse, but as the exact places where the light of a new, stubborn resilience breaks through.

By Felicia Robustelli