Just a few days before the start of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, the event is preparing to go beyond sporting competition, with a set of parallel cultural initiatives that aim to enrich the Olympic experience. One of them is the exhibition “Olympic Art – L’arte incontra lo spirito Olimpico”, which will feature a Portuguese presence through the work of contemporary artist Rueffa.
The artist was one of 50 selected to be part of this international exhibition, which will be on display at Galleria Artemida, in Milan, between the 6th and 22nd of February. The invitation came following the recognition of his career in the contemporary artistic scene and culminates in a participation that Rueffa takes with particular pride, highlighting the symbolism of representing Portugal as an “athlete-artist”.
Before leaving for Italy, Rueffa was at the Portuguese Olympic Committee, where he presented one of the two pieces that will be part of the exhibition. The work was shown while still in the development phase to the secretary general of the COP, Diana Gomes, and the director of the Department of Education and Olympic Memory, Rita Nunes. This is a work created specifically for this occasion and is part of the “Selfie Dollar” collection, one of the most consistent conceptual cores of the artist’s career, developed over the last decade.
In this exclusive edition for the Winter Olympic Games, Rueffa transports the central reflection of the Selfie Dollar collection to the universe of Olympism, marked by the presence of the mirror as an artistic device. The work invites the viewer to a direct confrontation with their own image, identity and relationship with time, in an exercise that is simultaneously personal and symbolic.
Although this is the first time he has worked directly with Olympic imagery, the artist recognizes affinities between the spirit of the Games and her daily practice. The notion of overcoming, focus and resilience associated with high-performance athletes is echoed in the creative process, which Rueffa describes as a demanding and disciplined journey, where she assumes the role of “her own coach”.
The two pieces that will be presented in Milan use materials that evoke snow and Olympic symbols, also incorporating the reference to the number 1, in an allusion to the athlete who reaches the top. The result is a layered game with a pedagogical, symbolic and emotional dimension, which celebrates victory, exclusivity and identity.
Rueffa’s participation in the exhibition “Olympic Art – Art meets the Olympic spirit” It is thus part of the dialogue between contemporary art and Olympic values, affirming the Portuguese presence on one of the cultural stages associated with the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
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