STUDIO-ONLINE

Laisvyde Salciute, Dove with Rose, 2002, acrylic on canvas, 58” x 40”

Nudes. Smiling is the first US exhibit by Lithuanian artist Laisvyde Salciute.

“Nudes. Smiling” is printmaker Laisvydė Šalčiūtė’s diversion into painting.  Naked women arranged in sexual poses are smiling among colourful background with animals, sometimes alone, sometimes as couples. This is similar to how the models painted by Rembrandt, Rubens or Manet laid or sat - demonstrating their bodies for the viewer’s pleasure, longing for love. The color in Šalčiūtė’s nudes are especially bright and courageously combined with stars, swans and hearts.

The paintings have exaggerated smiles that sharpen one’s ears and joyful combination of colors.  The light layer of paint highlights lines so that wrinkles on female’s bodies become as if incised with a knife. Comfortable poses are distorted in such a way that bodies become overstretched and the faces, arms, legs and bellies become mutilated. Fingers are especially nervous (sometimes more than ten), they look like wrenched by arthritis, although the women appear young.  Thus the smile is self-ironical here, denying all superficial happinesses offered by women’s magazines, advertisement and beauticians. These are the women, according to the author, “torn by inner contradictions”, in other words, contradictions to oneself, self-sacrifice, exhaustion - the woman’s permanent daily experience.

The artist was a grant recipient from The Frans Masereel Graphic Center, Kasterlee /Belgium/ in 2005 and 2003. Also, in 2004-06 ,1997, 1993 she received grants from the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture and in 1994 a grant from Austrian Ministry of Culture.

In 2007 Laisvyde was awarded by the Associations of Lithuanian Art Creators as The Best Artist of the Year. Her works are in the The National Lithuanian Art Museum in Vilnius, at The National M.K. Čiurlionis Art Museum in Kaunas /Lithuania/, also in Skovde University, Sweden and Vilnius University Graphic Cabinet.

Laisvyde has built a career as a printmaker and exhibits regularly all over Europe. She has also participated in group exhibitions at the Contemporary Art Fair in Vienna, The United Nations in Geneva, Vilnius Contemporary Art Centre, The International Print Triennials in Germany, Sweden, Poland, Japan, France, Netherlands and The Graphic Art Festival Evora  in Portugal.

Laisvyde Salciute grew up in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. In 1989 she is graduated from Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts.

Opening receptions: Saturday September 6, 6-9 PM and Sunday September 7, 2-8 PM.

Something Unexpected Art Gallery
152 Main Street
Nyack, NY 10960
Phone: 845-358-1196 / 845-709-1756
Web: www.something-unexpected.com

NYC artist, Marco Maggi (Montevideo, Uruguay, 1957) presents his solo exhibition at Galeria Nara Roesler, the new installation Hipo Real, the unfolding of the series The Turner Collection, developed since 2005. In this series, Maggi, who has participated at the 25th São Paulo International Biennial, and at the 3rd and 4th editions of the Mercosul Biennial, once again exposes the confrontation between the excessive velocity present in contemporary society and human temporality.

“Slow down, demands Maggi. The game he proposes is filled with great secrets and revealing strategies. It is necessary to look with time”, writes art critic Adriano Pedrosa about the exhibition. He makes us remember how subjective is the experience of looking and interpreting, explains one of the several international articles about his work. According to Pedrosa, slowing down is anti-modern, anti-progressive, anti-capitalist, anit-urban and anti-globalization. “As a contemporary Faust, the artist seems to tell us: ‘Stop, an instant that passes’”.

His wonderful, precise and delicate drawings that, according to Maggi, have the paper as purpose and time and focus as preferred means, are made with the most prosaic materials: incision on piles of paper or on acrylic, grafitte on paper or on the passe partout of the frame itself, dry point on aluminum framed on slides, amongst others.

The installation Hipo Real is composed of 15 acrylic boxes spread around the floor and of 8 paper panels distributed on the walls, on which Maggi appropriates reproductions of artists’ works such as Warhol, Klein, Fontana, Richter and of important names of the Latin American art scene, such as Jesus Soto, Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Mira Schendel and Lygia Pape.

“Hipo Real is the opposite of the exageration, of hyper-realisam, it is a second underlying reality, a surface unnoticeable to be read without the hope to be informed”, says Maggi. According to Adriano Pedrosa, he flips the image for the viewer, adds a pile of paper to it and then makes cuts on its surface, “creating small reliefs on paper, revealing here and there, filaments and fragments of hidden masterpieces”.

Six more drawings complete the exhibition, in which the reference to velocity is further underlined in Slow Foil, Slow Shadow, and Sliding (remitting to slides, whose frames are used in the works), besides the installation with aluminum foil packages.

Gleria Nara Roesler
Avenida Europa 655
01449-001
São Paulo, Brasil
Phone: 55 (11) 3063 2344
Website: www.nararoesler.com.br

FAVIÁN VERGARA: “Saints and Impossible Saints” - Photography and Paintings

¿Quién puede ser llamado Santo?

Pero ¿de quiénes hablamos cuando nos referimos a santos, testigos y mártires? En sentido general, son ejemplos extraordinarios de vida cristiana, de fe y confianza en Dios. Y, sin embargo, se trata al mismo tiempo de personas comunes, cercanas a nosotros, que nos recuerdan que la santidad es para todo aquél que se vuelve Dios…

Los santos son hombres o mujeres distinguidos en las diversas tradiciones religiosas por sus supuestas relaciones particulares con las divinidades y la consiguiente superioridad espiritual o moral respecto al resto de los seres humanos.

En español se utiliza la palabra santa cuando se trata de una mujer (por ejemplo, santa Ana de Nazareth). Cuando es un hombre se utiliza siempre el apócope san, con las excepciones de santo Tomé, santo Toribio, santo Tomás y santo Domingo, en las que se emplea el término completo.

Galería Óscar Román
Julio Verne 14.
Col. Polanco,
Mexico, D.F.
Phone: (+52) 5280 0436
Website: www.galeriaoscarroman.com.mx/

ALBERTO BAÑUELOS: “Between Earth and Heaven” - Sculpture

La exposición “Entre la tierra y el Cielo” del artista burgalés Alberto Bañuelos-Fournier presenta tres núcleos del trabajo desarrollado por este escultor en la última década. El eje principal a la obra en piedra o mármol, escultura en blanco y negro compuesta por una treintena de piezas pertenecientes a las distintas series que realiza Bañuelos y entre las que destacan la serio “del mar adentro”, obras de gran estilización y sensualidad en busca de la esencia metafísica; “del espacio”, un acercamiento escultórico al desarrollo melódico de la forma; “abrir o cerrar” , piedras en vertical que conectan totémicamente la tierra y el cielo; “los paisajes”, tratamientos epidérmicos del mar y de la tierra, o varios “torso” que representan el tránsito y el acercamiento entre unas series y otras.

Galería Óscar Román
Julio Verne 14.
Col. Polanco,
Mexico, D.F.
Phone: (+52) 5280 0436
Website: www.galeriaoscarroman.com.mx/

My Own Worst Enemy, 2007, cyanotype and gum photo 15″ x 15″
(All images © Diana Teeter. Reproduced courtesy of Diana Teeter.)

Interviewed by Cindi Di Marzo

For many artists, New York City is a symbol. As Paris once had prior to the close of World War II, New York has held, for more than half a century, the key to a dream. It is a dream that, perhaps more than any other commonality, binds artists through the ages. In whatever time and place, makers of art hope to communicate their vision; impact a large audience; appeal to critics, curators and patrons; and, of course, earn a place in art history. While other centers (Paris, London, Tokyo, Prague, Stockholm and St. Petersburg, for example) function as thriving artistic centers, none has the magnetic power of New York. While there always remains the possibility of being a big fish in a smaller pond, the chance to become a name in New York City draws art students and recent graduates to New York in droves. Despite the prevalence of the Internet, which has made self-promotion more accessible and inexpensive, living and working in New York is itself a dream. (more…)

RESEARCH: The Royal Scottish Academy Research Residencies in Focus

This exhibition presents the work of 10 artists who were awarded RSA Residencies in 2007: Katie Orton, Eoghann MacColl, Katie Houston, Nick Law, Kirsten McAlister, Nichola Martin, Paulina Sandberg, Colin Parker, Jim Harold and Susan Brind. Highlighting the process of development as well as teasing out questions about the need for developmental support and the strength and inter-connectivity of the artistic network in Scotland.

Developmental support of artists towards the creation of new work is a primary aim of the RSA. Opportunities are currently given to some 35+ artists per annum to research and develop new work and to present new exhibitions at galleries across Scotland. Some opportunities are for international travel, such as the RSA John Kinross Scholarships to Florence and The RSA Alastair Salvesen Art Scholarship and Barns-Graham Travel Awards. Other Scholarships are for the development of new work in Scotland such as the RSA Gillies Awards and others are in collaboration with partners such as The Scottish Arts Council, The Friends of the RSA, Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and Peacock Visual Arts to name a few.

A selection of the works on show will be some of the most recent acquisitions to the Collection of the RSA. This collection, which dates back some 200 years, is of primary importance to the history of art in Scotland and is an ever-developing body of historic and contemporary works, letters and objects.

This exhibition is part of the Edinburgh Art Festival 2008.

RSA Finlay Room, Royal Scottish Academy.
Admission FREE

Royal Scottish Academy
The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
Phone: 0131 225 6671
Website: www.royalscottishacademy.org.uk

Reviewed by Cindi Di Marzo

A gifted storyteller and chef, American author Marlena de Blasi’s has enchanted readers with her tales of life in Tuscany (A Thousand Days in Tuscany), Venice (A Thousand Days in Venice) and the town of Orvieto (The Lady in the Palazzo: At Home in Umbria). (more…)

Reviewed by Cindi Di Marzo

Antiquarian book dealers Nancy and Lawrence Goldstone can narrate their life together with suspenseful tales centering on books sought, pursued and won. This couples’ passion for the old and the elusive may be typical of ardent rare book lovers, but their gift for expressing it places them among the best popular non-fiction writers. Together, the Goldstones have published accounts of their adventures in book collecting: Warmly Inscribed: The New England Forger and Other Book Tales (2001), Slightly Chipped: Footnotes in Booklore (1999) and Travels in the Book World (1997); as well as two volumes of medieval history: Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World (2002) and The Friar and the Cipher: Roger Bacon and the Unsolved Mystery of the Most Unusual Manuscript in the World (2005). (more…)

(Atria Books, 2005; paper Washington Square Press, 2007)

Reviewed by Cindi Di Marzo

In July 2008, author Elizabeth Hickey’s second novel, The Wayward Muse (Atria, 2007), is set for a paperback release. This event marks an auspicious time for readers unfamiliar with Hickey’s delightfully inventive first novel, The Painted Kiss (Atria, 2005; paperback, Washington Square Press, 2007), to seek out a copy. (more…)

Reviewed by Cindi Di Marzo

Dominika Dery’s account of growing up in Czechoslovakia following the brief flickering of hope known as the “Prague Spring” (a period of political liberalization beginning in January 1968, led by Alexander Dubček) and subsequent reassertion of Soviet authority (or “normalization”) marks her as one of the rare authors capable of conjuring magic from memories. A witness to unrelenting frustrations experienced by her dissident parents (as well as those who towed the line in exchange for a very fragile safety), Dominika prays to the “little god” who protects her family from informers in every corner of their hometown, Černošice, near Prague. Whether it is this god, her parents’ stubborn refusal or Dominika’s own rose-colored glasses that save the family from poverty, prison and despair, their triumph over the system ranks with victories achieved by Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones. (more…)

There are certainly places on Iceland that look like they belong on another world. Rough and empty lavascapes swell up around extinct and active volcanoes. Glaciers carve their way through soft rock, creating serrated ridges and valleys as defined as cut crystal. There are steaming, sulfurous blue lakes and geysers that spit up water like hidden, landlocked whales

The exhibition Cold. Hot. Iceland consists of nearly twenty photos in colour, presenting the unique Icelandic landscape in the form of reportage.

The exhibition “Cold.Hot.Iceland” is presented by the Nordic Council of Ministers Information Office in Lithuania in connection with the Icelandic chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2004.

Cepulinskaite worked as press photographer in the biggest Lithuanian daily “Lietuvos rytas” (1997-2007). Since 1993 she is a member of the Union of the Lithuanian Art Photographers, and in 2001 she became member of the Lithuanian Press Photographers Club and in 2007 she is a member of International Federation of Journalists.

She has participated in numerous exhibitions( had 16 solo exhibitions) and got awards at many institutions around the world, including FIAP gold medal in Mundid Photofestival (1998, Rovinj, Croatia), Diploma in 3rd International Art Photography Exhibition Vallombrosa Abbey, (1997, Florence, Italy), DVF (APA) Golden Medal in Hertener Photosalon (1994, Germany). She had 16 solo exhibitions. Her artworks are in many other fine institutions, private collectors around the world. She was the recipient of a 1995 and 1999 scholarship of the year for the young artists in Lithuania.

Artist’s Reception: Saturday June 7th 6:00 – 9:00 pm
and Sunday June 8th 2:00 – 5:00 pm

Something Unexpected Contemporary Art Gallery
152 Main St., Nyack, NY 10960
Telephone: 845 – 358 – 1196
www.something-unexpected.com
Hours: Wed. - Sun: 12:00 – 8:00 pm

The works of 14 critically acclaimed sculptors, including by Margaret Hunter, Peter Burke, Richard Kindersley and Sir Eduardo Paolozzi are the exhibits currently assembled for Millstream Sculpture Garden’s second season.

Curated by architect Michael Newberry and art consultant Geoffrey Bertram, the exhibition at Michael’s single storey steel and glass house commences Saturday 3^rd May 2008.

Set in tranquil, purpose-built gardens within Newberry’s riverside property, the exhibition – located midway between Salisbury and Bath, one minute from the A36 into Warminster, Wiltshire – represents an inspiring fusion of contemporary architecture with landscaping entirely designed with a single objective: the promotion of contemporary sculpture in ideal, intimately scaled surroundings.

Newberry states, “From the outset, I designed Millstream to incorporate exterior sculpture. The light, the location, the stream running alongside and the beautiful surroundings provide an ideal backdrop for sculpture. I’ve always liked sculpture, probably because it is three-dimensional and tactile, both of which appeal to the architect and designer in me. But it’s more than that. Having sculpture in the garden is just an extension of a need to be surrounded by beautiful things. We aim to set sculpture in a setting where form is enhanced not only by light and shade but also by contrast to the surrounding foliage, ground textures and water.”

Geoffrey Bertram, whose experience in running galleries in Edinburgh, Toronto and London’s Cork Street and whose extensive knowledge of contemporary sculpture has complemented Newberry’s own vision, added: “You enter Michael’s property and immediately know that everything is completely right: well-lit interior spaces are ideal for the small and medium-scale work of Peter Burke, for example, while Tim Harrisson’s marble sculptures, though displayed inside the house, are juxtaposed with the outdoor sculptures that sit in a perfect background of riverside trees, sloping lawn and raised terraces.”

Margaret Hunter, Richard Kindersley and Sir Eduardo Paolozzi works are enhanced by sculptures from: Chris Buck, Christine Fox, Cathy Lewis, Carole Waller, Rosie Musgrave, Peter Burke, Nigel Cann, Tim Harrisson, Jonathan Leslie, Guy Thomas, Henry Swanzy and Raymond Wirick.

The gardens are designed by the internationally acclaimed landscape gardener John Brookes – a former Chairman of the Society of Garden Designers, and author of, among other books, Small Gardens (Dorling Kindersley, 2006) and with whom Michael Newberry has worked since the seventies.

Construction of the house was completed in 2003. The result of this Newberry-Brookes collaboration in southern England was an award – for development in a conservation area – from West Wiltshire District Council (WWDC) in 2005.

The exhibition, running from 3^rd May to 28^th September 2008, is open during weekends (12-5pm) and Bank Holidays - and by appointment. Entry:FREE

Tel: (44) 1985 213360. Email info@millstreamsculpturegarden.com

For Images and further information about Millstream Gallery go to www.millstreamsculpturegarden.com

Reviewed by Cindi Di Marzo

The tag line on the cover of the paperback edition of Judy Corbett’s Castles in the Air (Ebury Press, 2005) is strongly indicative of the Artist as archetype. Most likely, in referring to “The restoration adventures of two young optimists and a crumbling old mansion,” the copywriter aimed to draw home restorers eager for tips and encouragement for the long haul ahead of them, or those who, having been through the ups and downs of historic home restoration, might enjoy some humorous hindsight. (more…)

Teresa Lawton, one of the most accomplished contemporary British artists will be exhibiting her new works at The Old Guildhall, in Corfe Castle.

Her abstract work with transcending visions of her Southern English country side are captivating and inspiring.

Open Thursday – Sunday 11am – 4pm and by appointment.

THE OLD GUILDHALL
47 East St, Corfe Castle, Dorset, BH20 5EE
Tel: 07890 559246
Web: www.teresalawton.co.uk

Dearraindrop return to Italy with the second solo show Scared Straight. Dearraindrop is made up of young US artists (Billy Grant, Joe Grillo, Laura Grant), who live in Virginia Beach.

A Dearraindrop show is an encyclopaedic bazaar which exhibits everything deliciously artificial which one might expect to find in a teenager’s bedroom, with a fantastic effect of barbaric chaos and irrepressible vital exultation. Anything is possible in the magical kaleidoscopes they create, in a jubilant explosion of forms and saturated fluorescent colours.

DRD are also extraordinary talents who spring from an environment of authentically popular creativity, who found their first publicity in the rough pages of comic fanzines, or in the environment of riotous rock concerts. A very vibrant jumble made up of expressions of a group of creative youngsters, clearly skilled and talented, but more interesting because they enlarge, with their great number, the volume of a “mass avant-garde”, which has finally taken form rather than for the determination to emerge from anonymity.
Indeed DRD are the most exceptional group to emerge from this intricate and vibrant undergrowth.

IN B SIDE PROJECT ROOM

Devin and Ian Flynn: DRAWINGS AND ANIMATIONS

Into the Project Room there is the first solo show in Europe of Devin and Ian Flynn: Drawings (Ian) and animations (Devin). Ian is an explosive and refined drawer while Devin makes animation for TV. A concentrated of irreverences and transgression (warning: are you over 18 ?).

Perugi artecontemporanea
via Giordano Bruno 24 b
35124 PADOVA Italia
Phone: +39 049 8809.507

David Cahill, The Vision of St Kirsten, Oil on Panel, 60″ x 42″

This April Limner Gallery presents Juxtapositions. The group exhibition, which runs from April 3 - 26, is an analytical one. The artworks in the show make comparisons between reality and the imagination. They play against each other and with themselves.

In Ignatius Widiapradja’s digital photograph (pictured above), a figure in a moody Victorian setting is contrast with the figures face, which appears to be skinless and transforms the piece into something bizarre. A similar effect is created using a different medium in Lynette Vought’s, acrylic painting, Prelude and Fugue. In Prelude and Fugue Vought paints a serene Madonna and Child that is rendered bizarre by mechanical arms that protrude out and wrap themselves around the child. Other artists, such as Argentinean photographer Claudia Fainguersch, take ordinary objects, in this case a droplet of water, and through technique render them surreal and out of the ordinary. William O’Donnell, a sculptor from Glens Falls, NY, has carved a leather jacket out of wood in frighteningly realistic detail, with knots of wood peering out from the creases of the jacket.

The artists in Juxtapositions are broadly based, from seven states, Italy and Argentina. The media presented is varied; photography (digital and traditional), printmaking, drawing, sculpture and various forms of painting are all represented. Despite the variety of styles and mediums the show is held together by the content of the work and the relationships that have been offered by the gallery, contrasted differing works together in keeping with the theme of the show.

Limner Gallery
123 Warren Street,
Hudson, NY
Phone: 518-828-2343
Web: www.limnergallery.com/

Gallery hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 12 - 6pm and by appointment

Sisters 2008, Oil on canvas.

In her new series of oil paintings Norwegian painter, Anki King, extracts imagery through remembered experiences from childhood as well as other memory based work. The childhood paintings are 30″ x 24″ and smaller and are often cropped in unexpected ways to emphasize the narrow view of a child. The larger paintings contain mature life size figures in full view. The human form is used here as a way of expressing emotions and emotions are an essential force in Ms. King’s work. The figures are not tied to a specific place or time and so become a vehicle for the viewer to create their own metaphor.

Anki King enjoys paint as a living, physical and sensual medium. She describes it as “a collaborative process”. Her work emits enjoyment of discovery and surprise from the process itself. The colors are muted, but the strong and varied brush strokes make the visual experience forceful and lively.

Opening receptions: Saturday April 19, 6-8 PM
and Sunday April 20, 2-4 PM.

Something Unexpected Art Gallery
152 Main Street
Nyack, NY 10960
Phone: 845-358-1196 / 845-709-1756
Web: www.something-unexpected.com

Swell, acrylic, 6×6feet ©2008

ECHOES, a solo exhibition of paintings by Diana Schmertz will be on display during April at the K.B. Gallery. Within her large acrylic paintings Schmertz explores the human psyche through touch.

Using large bold marks, Schmertz creates the sensation of light falling across flesh of the body. The physical contact between the flesh of these bodies reveals the psychological relationship embodied beneath the surface of their skin. The application of paint is sensual, expressing an intimacy rooted in the connectedness of all things.

While Schmertz’s works are figurative and representational, the compositions create an abstracted image. There is confusion within the compositions, making one question where one person ends and the other begins. This confusion breaks down the mental fixation of singular entities and reinforces the notion of the interdependence of beings.

Schmertz was born and raised in New York City. After completing her BFA from Purchase College at age 19, she was accepted into De Ateliers 63 residency program and awarded a two-year grant to live and paint in Amsterdam, Holland. Since, has traveled extensively, completed two Masters in Science, and has exhibited frequently throughout America, including San Francisco, New York City, and Philadelphia. Most recently she received a Manhattan Community Arts Fund grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and a grant from the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance.

K.B. Gallery:
875 West 181st Street & Riverside Drive.
New York, New York 10033
Phone: 212 543 2393

Sculpture, Video Installation and Painted Photography
By Rachel Harrison (maybe the best of the show)

If you want to see the state of American Art don’t visit this show, make time to visit studios when there are open studios, which is something these curators never appear to do. Almost nothing is this show can be classified as art, frankly I saw more artistic expression on “Project Runway” than inside the Whitney Museum or the Armory. As for the additional exhibits in the Armory, the actual rooms are more impressive than the things displayed within.

This Biennial is more to do with who you know than to do with art. Apart from a few artists, most of the stuff found here is not done by artists, but by participating want-to-be artists, who failed miserably in showing any kind of artistic expression.

The installations, the sound effects, the videos can be summarized as “What are they thinking, are they thinking at all?”

If this show reflects American Art, then I put my money on Contemporary Chinese or Japanese Art. But as this show does not represent the new and inspiring work by contemporary American artists, I hope the Whitney hires better curators for their next Biennial.

From March 6 to 23, installations and performances will be presented at the Armory, 67th St. and Park Avenue.

Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street
New York, NY 10021
Website: www.whitney.org

By M.A.B.

Averroé, 1967 © Giulio Paolini

In connection with Moderna Museet’s 50th Anniversary in 2008, three exhibitions will focus on cultural ‘hotspots’ around the world in the 60’s: Rio de Janeiro, Milan/Turin and Los Angeles. The idea is to explore the period when Moderna Museet was created from an international perspective, by featuring a representative selection of works of art, architecture, design, literature, film and music never before shown together in Sweden.

Curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, Time & Place: Milan/Turin, 1958-1968 investi­gates a decisive moment in Italian art, focusing on these two cities as emblematic places of birth for a new identity. The exhibition explores the shift from the ‘Infor­male’ to the Arte povera, in a unique selection which gives a contemporary reflection of the period.

Proposing a radically new perspective, Time & Place: Milan/Turin, 1958-1968 is intended to concentrate on issues developed by this environment, such as the mo­nochrome, the zero degree of signs, and the tabula rasa of conceptual practice.

The Italian avant-garde was recognized, already in the 1960s, by former Moderna Museet director Pontus Hultén, who acknowledged the leading roles held by Piero Manzoni and Lucio Fontana, who in 1967 presented a solo show at Moderna Museet.

In the first section, the exhibition presents the situation ‘beyond the Informale’, with the birth of Italian experiences, internationally known, of formal and chromatic re­duction, through the use of monochrome and the conception of space in researches beyond the surface: next to Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni, artists such as Enrico Castellani, Dadamaino, Gianni Colombo, Agostino Bonalumi, Paolo Scheggi, Mario Nigro, Rodolfo Aricò are represented.

The second part of the exhibition has a documentary tone, presenting the moment of artistic transition from Milan to Turin, reconstructing seminal events and exhibiting sculptural objects, photographs, invitation cards, catalogues from the period. This section will also explore the importance of the new sculpture as object, presenting, among others, Manzoni’s Linee (Lines) and Merda d’artista (Artist’s Shit), sculptu­res by Fausto Melotti and Lucio Fontana, works by Vincenzo Agnetti and Gastone Novelli together with pieces by Valerio Adami, Enrico Baj, and Lucio del Pezzo.

The third part features artworks which anticipate and conflate the developments of Arte povera, an approach based on incorporating unconventional materials with a prevailing conceptual dimension. This is a crucial moment when the frame of refe­rence is moved from post-war Milan to the pulsating social reality of Turin, which sees the emergence of future masters such as Giulio Paolini, Luciano Fabro, Miche­langelo Pistoletto, Mario and Marisa Merz, Gianni Piacentino, Carolrama, Alighiero Boetti, Giuseppe Penone, Giovanni Anselmo, Giorgio Griffa, Paolo Icaro and others.

In connection with the exhibition, Moderna Museet will also host a programme of films by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini and other Ita­lian film-makers.
Curator: Luca Massimo Barbero, Venice, Italy.

Project curator: Cecilia Widenheim, Moderna Museet.

Moderna Museet
Skeppsholmen, Stockholm
Phone: +46 8 5195 5279
Website: www.modernamuseet.se