The Rochester Art Center (30 Civic Center Drive SE, STE 120 Rochester, MN) in partnership with the Italian Cultural Center of Minneapolis/St. Paul presents a solo exhibition of photographs and interviews created by Italian artist Melissa Ianniello (b. 1991, Naples, Italy). August 3, 2022 - January 29, 2023

Produced over the last four years, and starting from the artist’s own journey as a lesbian in Italy, the ongoing series Wish it Was a Coming Out, investigates the taboo of being older and gay in Italy, a country with a history and a culture deeply rooted in religious and traditional beliefs. In this exhibition, the stories of gay men and lesbian women between sixty and ninety years old unfold through sixteen intimate portraits and six large scale photographs of the interviewees' homes.