HOTEL PARADISO - GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA OPENS HER FIRST ART EXHIBITION

HOTEL PARADISO actress GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA opened the first ever exhibition of her sculptures in Russia yesterday (23JUN03).

The Italian actress, 75, who began acting in her home country when she was just 19 and later trained as a photographer and sculptor, now hopes her art - including bronze pieces representing characters she has played and screen legends she knew - will offer some insight to viewers about her filming heyday.

She explains, "My cinema - the 1950s, 1960s - is different from the cinema today so I thought that it would not be bad to show that kind of cinema where we could dream."

She chose Russia as the country to host her first exhibition because she feels the Russian people have been very loyal to her throughout her career.

She adds, "Russian people - there is an affection - they have sympathy for me and they show it to me many years ago and still today they are very faithful."

The pieces on display at Moscow's PUSHKIN MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS include titles such as MY FRIEND LIZA MINNELLI and MY FRIEND MARILYN MONROE.