Founded in 2001 by Rita Urso under the name Artopia, located on the first floor of an ancient palace of the early twentieth century, the gallery inaugurate with an exhibition of Marzia Migliora curated by Emanuela De Cecco.
The gallery arouse to the attention of public and critics already from the beginning of its activity because of the interest set in the Balkan and Middle-East artistic scene
, proposing emerging artists for the first time. The site-specific projects,- among others, those of Adrian Paci, Phil Collins and Maja Bajevic - created around the unusual nature of the exhibition space that bordered and intertwined with the domestic space of the family, did privilege themes as home, its loss, sense of belonging and identity. At the original name is added RITA URSO. The new project is focused on Italian and international artists who approach architecture, cinema and design, and work with a wide range of media. All the artists from different generations and cultural backgrounds share the engagement with an existential and aesthetic vision of the reality. Each exhibition is accompanied by a publication containing a bilingual text and some pictures of the exhibited artworks.