Lateral Roma is an independent art space located in the Appio Latino district of Rome, Italy. Lateral Roma was founded by Geraldine Tedder and Mathias Ringgenberg a.k.a PRICE in October 2020 and is run by a team of artists and curators, currently: Laura Cabezas, Marta Federici, Jazmina Figueroa, Camilla Paolino, Jacopo Rinaldi and PRICE; previously: Tobias Koch and Geraldine Tedder. We are a self-organized project broadening our program beyond exhibition formats into a wider field of exchange, production, and research.
Lateral Roma’s programming is based on lateral thinking. Lateral thinking, as opposed to vertical thinking, is rooted in the erotic; it is fantastical, even irrational thinking that does not follow an obvious train of thought. It challenges routine, pattern, and norm, representing their symbolic resistance. It is playful, sometimes strange and surreal, and follows principles such as mistake/accident/humor: “You can park anywhere you like, as long as you like, as long as you leave your headlights full on”.
Currently on view:
Hand/Eye
Aia Sofia Coverley Turan and Benjamin Savi
Curated by Ginevra Ludovici
September 12 – October 24, 2025
The exhibition Hand/Eye brings together for the first time the works of artists Aia Sofia Coverley Turan and Benjamin Savi. The title refers to hand–eye coordination as an intuitive and fundamental process shaping how we learn, perceive, and articulate meaning. Through distinct yet conceptually interwoven practices, Coverley Turan and Savi explore the transformation from form to language and the dissolution of linguistic structures, proposing alternative modes of communication.
At the core of Coverley Turan’s work is an exploration of language, learning processes, and censorship, shaped by personal and collective histories. Central to her contribution is a large-scale installation of chalk pieces, produced during her residency at Circolo Scandinavo in Rome. Chalk’s porous nature echoes the ephemerality of spoken and written language, evoking histories of suppression and resistance. This approach is rooted in her family’s experience of linguistic erasure in Turkey, where Kurdish, their mother tongue, was banned from schools. Her focus on materiality and its relation to memory also emerges in a series of small copper matchbox sculptures with tin casts of sugar cubes, which transform perishable elements into forms built to endure.
Savi’s practice engages with the fluidity of form and the act of reading through visual and material interventions. He uses cursive exercises as a motif to create concealed guides that morph abstract forms into letters and words. For the exhibition, he further expands his research into luminous facade signage and a series of postcards hand-printed with the Eugene Brisset star press by the Bulla sisters at the Bulla Lithography in Rome. These works reference Piranesi’s etchings and his early postcards of Roman cityscapes, opening a dialogue between past and present modes of representation. The interplay between graphic gesture, erasure and legibility underscores the instability of written communication, with screen-printing transforming fleeting everyday traces into reproducible forms.
Aia Sofia Coverley Turan (Copenhagen, 1994) lives and works in Denmark. Her research addresses the small ecstasies and complex emotions of everyday life, focusing on wordless narratives and alternative ways of communicating across languages. Through the interplay of light and heavy materials, the sketched and the cast, she develops forms of material storytelling that address fragmented memories, identity, cultural histories and social patterns. She graduated at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2019 and has exhibited at Huset for Kunst and Design (DK), 44Møen (DK), Den Frie (DK), Heerz Troya (BG), among others. Her works are held in the Danish Arts Foundation’s and Copenhagen Municipality’s collections.
Benjamin Savi (Copenhagen, 1992) lives and works in Denmark. His work spans painting, drawing, graphic art, and installation, and is marked by a strong dialogue with the stylistic and historical traditions of each medium. While rooted in references to art history, his motifs often engage with the contemporary world, reflecting on the image and its inherent logic and psychology. In recent years he has collaborated with graphic workshops in Denmark and abroad, where diverse local contexts have become integral to his ongoing practice. Savi graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2019 and has exhibited at Kastrupgårdsamlingen (DK), Fea Initiative (GR), COI (DK), and The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (USA), among others.
Hand/Eye was realized in collaboration with Litografia Bulla and Circolo Scandinavo, with support from the Danish Arts Foundation.
IN OTHER NEWS:
NO MOVES TO INNOCENCE: A statement by Lateral Roma to address concerns among cultural workers and artists, published by NERO, read here.
www.instagram.com/lateralroma/
info[at]lateralroma.eu
Lateral Roma
Via Ferdinando Ughelli 28
00179 Roma RM