SEQUENCE

November 6, 2026–January 30, 2027
Raffaele Cioffi
Featuring a sound installation by Nadir Vassena
Frankfurt Westend Gallery

Painting and sound come together in the exhibition SEQUENZE, which opens on Friday, November 6, at the Westend Gallery in Frankfurt. Painter Raffaele Cioffi and composer Nadir Vassena take on the challenge of connecting different sensory phenomena through shared principles. The idea of relating color to sound and form to rhythm has numerous precedents in the history of art and music.

Raffaele Cioffi (*1971, Desio near Monza) explores the relationship between color and light in his works, which are organized into thematic cycles. Through his paintings, he creates contemplative spaces and invites viewers to a sensory and emotional experience. Following “Lux Lucis” (2015), “Gemaltes Licht” (2018), and “Costellazioni” (2022), this is his fourth exhibition in Frankfurt. The paintings in the new cycle “Sequenze” unfold like a stream of visual chords: vertical lights that flare up and fade—chromatic variations that emerge and dissolve once more. The painterly surface unfolds from left to right, much like reading a musical score. It becomes a place where light seems to transform into rhythm.

Nadir Vassena (*1970, Lugano) is a composer who teaches composition at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano and is a lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Music (HSLU). For the exhibition SEQUENZE, he is creating a site-specific sound installation in which the “primary colors” of the paintings displayed in the space each determine the fundamental frequency from which the subsequent spectral sound manipulations emerge. He describes the process as “sonification,” in which “data or visual structures are translated into sounds by assigning parameters such as color, shape, position, or visual rhythm to musical elements such as pitch, duration, timbre, or intensity.”

Painting and Sound: Cioffi’s paintings invite viewers to engage with them not only with their eyes but also with their inner ear. Vassena’s musical contribution is visually evident on the canvases. In the exhibition, visitors experience how two different forms of expression, each with its own codes, can create a shared emotional impact.

Opening Reception: Friday, November 6, 2026, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. — Raffaele Cioffi and Nadir Vassena will be in attendance.
Exhibition dates: Through January 30, 2027.
Hours: Tue–Fri 9 a.m.–1 p.m., Thu 2–6 p.m., and by appointment.
Christmas break: December 23, 2026, through January 8, 2027.

Frankfurt Westend Gallery
Arndtstraße 12
60325 Frankfurt am Main

Contact: Barbara Thurau
Email: galerie@div-web.de