Silent Piazza: Lorenzo Lorenzetti

Press Release

la BEAST gallery is proud to present ‘Silent Piazza’, the debut solo exhibition by Los Angeles based artist Lorenzo Lorenzetti. This immersive installation examines the intricacies of heritage, material memory, and the fading rituals of public life. Channeling the architectural fragments of Detroit’s industrial past, Lorenzetti constructs a space where sculpture becomes both offering and artifact—an homage to the immigrant artisans whose hands shaped cities, and a reflection on the quiet vanishing of communal space in a digital age.

‘Silent Piazza’ opens with a reception on Saturday, May 17th, from 6–9 PM at la BEAST gallery in Cypress Park. The exhibition will remain on view through June 21st.

About the Exhibition

The first time I visited Lorenzo’s studio, I walked straight into the middle of a full-scale carpentry workshop—machines buzzing, sawdust thick in the air, the smell of lacquer clinging to everything. Through a tight corridor, and behind a curtain of dusty plastic, I was affronted by an amazing array of sculptures. The space was crowded—dense with objects—some complete, others mid-process. There appeared to be no limit to the materials in use: wax, bronze, aluminum, wood, stone, ceramic, pressed hemp, and even fortified sawdust. Nestled among the artworks was an impeccably designed couch, crafted with such care that it felt like a stranger, more welcome in a brightly lit West Hollywood showroom. The atmosphere was one of intense concentration and resilient devotion. Every surface felt touched. Every material pushed to its end conclusion. It was hard to believe that all this came from one person. And yet, it did.

Raised in Detroit, Lorenzetti grew up surrounded by the ornate remnants of Gothic churches and Art Deco skyscrapers—monuments to a time when artisans left their mark in stone, steel, and wood. After moving to Los Angeles, he found creative sanctuary within a still-active woodshop, formally specializing in Italian reproductions. It was there, carved into a beam, that he noticed the Winged Lion of Venice—the same emblem his Venetian grandfather had revered. That unexpected symbol became a spark, linking past to present and guiding this evolving body of work.

In ‘Silent Piazza’, Lorenzetti assembles salvaged fragments from the woodshop alongside his own hand-formed creations, collapsing distinctions between eras, materials, and origin stories. The resulting installation conjures a space that feels sacred, cheeky, and historic—part ruin, part personal playground, part civic altar. Many of the sculptures depict nocturnal animals—opossums, felines, and roosted pigeons—agents of watchful stillness. These creatures haunt the ‘piazza’ like guardians of a dying order, embodying the slow fade of a golden age of skill-driven infrastructure. Their presence signals something passing, a world once built by hand now giving way to abstraction, automation, and erasure.

At a time when digital systems outpace physical ones and collective memory gives way to personalized algorithms, this cunning showcase resists speed and spectacle. Lorenzetti’s sculptures are dense with labor and nostalgia, rooted in the act of making, rebelling against the path of least resistance. In essence, we are softly asked what it means to inherit, to preserve, and to participate in traditions that are quietly disappearing. The ‘piazza’ may be silent, but it is not empty. It holds the weight of everything we stand to forget—and the possibility of what should still be remembered.

Director la BEAST gallery

About the Artist

Lorenzo Lorenzetti (b.1995 Royal Oak, MI) received his MFA in sculpture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. His multimedia practice embraces a close connection to the creation process in both conventional materials and newer industrial processes. Often blurring lines between figuration and abstraction, his sculptures invites reflection on the relevance of tradition in an increasingly digital world. He is currently living and working in Los Angeles, CA.