In the beating heart of Trieste, the John Reed concept gym, the most beautiful gym in Italy set up in the scenic building of a former bank from the early twentieth century, inaugurated the exhibition dedicated to Ken Scott, an American artist and fashion designer who revolutionized the textile universe in an explosion of color and irony, organized in collaboration with the Ken Scott Foundation and open to the public until June 8, 2025.

The exhibition is part of the project by John Reed – a company of RSG Group International that manages 3 of its 10 brands in Italy: McFIT, John Reed and Gold’s Gym – which integrates culture and wellness within its spaces, transforming the gym into a place of culture and inspiration that exploits the healing power of art and beauty.

Ken Scott’s genius comes to life among the weights, lights and energy of John Reed, integrating the museum experience into a complete wellness path, aimed at taking care not only of the body but also of the mind.

(Samuele Frosio, artist and MD of RSG Group Italia)

Located in the central Corso Italia, the John Reed Fitness Trieste location offers 2000 square meters on four floors with a bar, rooms for live classes, group workouts, a cardio area, functional training, cycling, free weights, a sauna, spaces dedicated to personal training on request and, of course, many works of art.

Painter, gardener, interior designer, chef, performer, fashion designer, George Kenneth Scott, aka Ken Scott, was born in 1918 in Indiana and trained between New York, Paris and the French Riviera, arriving in Milan in 1955 with the intention of reinventing himself.

And he succeeds: he founds the Falconetto brand, and thanks to his eclectic and unconventional genius, he revolutionizes the taste of the time, bringing to the international scene a vibrant imagery made of gigantic flowers, bright colors, surprising patterns and bold combinations.

A friend of Peggy Guggenheim, he dresses international icons who choose him for their clothes, from Jacqueline Kennedy to Monica Vitti to Marisa Berenson.

The John Reed Fitness Trieste exhibition offers a selection of designs for scarves with a “single flower” theme, created between the 1950s and the 2000s, works, original fabrics and archive pieces.

Works that tell the story of Ken Scott’s most iconic style: monumental flowers, vibrant colours, vivid pictorial strokes resulting from a refined mixed technique that combines tempera, watercolours and crayons.

Art enters the daily life of those who live at the John Reed gym, breaking down the barriers between creativity and physical performance: in addition to the Ken Scott exhibition, many permanent urban art works are set up on all the walls and spaces of the gym, including the beautiful rooms created in the former bank vaults, some of which are for sale.

The artists exhibited, including Samuele Frosio, abstract expressionist and Sole Director of RSG Group Italia who strongly supported the realization of the project of exhibitions set up inside the John Reed gyms, are curated by the artistic duo Ron Miller and Luca Mayr, artistic director of Urban Colors.

The exhibition “Ken Scott – Vernissage” can be visited until June 8th every Saturday from 3.00 pm to 9.00 pm, preferably by reservation on Eventbrite.

The Secret

John Reed is a fictitious name that, in the mind of the gym creator Rainer Schaller, evokes that of a “rocker” with a free soul and a curious mind. The first John Reed center was opened in Bonn in 2016 with the dream of creating a new gym concept that would enhance the importance of music during training and experiment with the healing power of art, making it an integral part of every session.

Useful Info

John Reed Fitness Trieste
Corso Italia 5
34122 Trieste

Fondazione Ken Scott

Membership from 60 euro per month
Free admission to exhibitions even for non-members of the Club every Saturday from 3pm to 9pm or on request