Can a wall become a space for storytelling, a visual device capable of bringing together art, language, and design? This question gave rise to Alphabet City – Exercises in Urban Art, an exhibition curated by Professor Giulio Vesprini, featuring a selection of works by students from AANT Academy in Rome. The exhibition will open on Friday, July 3, 2026, at 5:30 PM at the Palazzina Sud of Lido Cluana in Civitanova Marche, as part of the Tabula Rasa Visual Arts Festival.
Giulio Vesprini, an AANT lecturer, is an artist and designer engaged in research at the intersection of public art, graphics, and urban intervention. For years, he has developed practices related to typography in space and to the relationship between sign and architecture.
The project originated within the workshop of the same name, held last year during AANT’s Refresh Week, and conceived as a research lab focused on the urban poster format. In recent years, this language has emerged as one of the most dynamic within contemporary public art: accessible, replicable, and capable of activating immediate connections with the urban environment. Within this context, Alphabet City explores the poster not only as a visual output, but as a narrative and relational device.
The Alphabet City project took shape within the workshop of the same name, held in March 2025 as part of AANT Refresh Week. It was conceived as a research lab for students enrolled in the three-year courses, focused on the format of the urban poster. The starting point of the workshop was a “pilot wall” at AANT’s headquarters in Piazza della Rovere, a place understood not merely as an exhibition surface, but as a structure of meaning.
In recent years, the language of the poster has established itself as one of the most dynamic forms within contemporary public art: accessible, replicable, and capable of creating immediate connections with the urban context. Alphabet City therefore fits into this landscape as a design exercise that explores the poster not only as a visual output, but also as a narrative and relational device.
On display in Civitanova will be works by students Enrico Pezzali, Stefano Fedele, Gabriele Formiconi, Gabriele Petcu, Giulia Caiola, Giulia Trombetti, Matteo Donati, Marianna Branconi, and Matteo Sinopoli. The exhibition design, created by Giulio Vesprini and produced by Materie Unite in collaboration with AANT, the event’s cultural partner, offers a coherent vision between educational research and curatorial practice, giving the public an experience that connects education, territory, and contemporary visual culture.