Francisco Tropa MISS AMERICA

Francisco Tropa’s work is grounded in an imaginary world that is continually nourished by literature, philosophy, history, and conversation, notably through the exploration of themes such as vanitas and representations of the measurement of time. Miss America is the name of an imagined boat, which one boards as soon as the gallery doors are crossed. It is also the title of a narrative, visualised by Tropa. Thus, the exhibition allegorically invokes the maritime world, and more specifically naufragium in its ancient (Roman) sense—that is, an accident or an uncontrolled fall. This word was used to refer both to shipwrecks and to chariot accidents in the Roman circus.

The boat, the sailors, and the shipwreck are also figures that have evoked imagery since ancient times, such as Ulysses in the Odyssey, and are associated with the story of a character constantly in motion. At the origin of this exhibition lies an object unearthed by an archaeologist friend: a small bronze tower designed for casting dice. Dropped through an opening at its summit, the dice cascade down an internal staircase before revealing their final arrangement—an orchestrated fall that invokes chance and may be read as an allegory of the Roman notion of naufragium.

The first part of this fiction, Miss America, was recently presented at the Palazzo De’ Toschi in Bologna, curated by Simone Menegoi. At Galerie Jocelyn Wolff in Paris, visitors are invited to discover two new chapters that complete the story of Miss America: Poor Captain and Shipwreck.

The myth of the sailor is also accompanied by songs. The artist therefore asked a close collaborator from the maritime world to write three songs, each inspired by one of the three chapters of the story. They reflect the language of sailors and provide clues for deciphering the allegory. These songs are made available to the public in a leaflet at the entrance to the gallery.