Continuity and new initiatives for Artissima – the only Italian art fair exclusively focused on contemporary art – at the Oval in Torino from 1 to 3 November.
Under the leadership of Ilaria Bonacossa, confirmed in her position for the next two years by the board of directors of Fondazione Torino, the fair in Torino moves forward with its pioneering approach, suggesting a versatile theme for reflection – desire/censorship – and exploring its many repercussions in today’s art world.
“Desire – Ilaria Bonacossa explains – springs from the relationship between the body and society, between experienced reality and an imagined, coveted existence. In history, works of art have conveyed images capable of emancipating us from things conventionally seen as taboo, thanks to the desire to break rules, to dissolve the boundaries between normal and exceptional. The borderline between permitted and prohibited content is at the centre of a very timely debate in which art itself is the object of censorship. In the digital world and the main social networks preventive, often algorithmic control increasingly hampers the spread and promotion of our artistic-cultural heritage. In such a context, desire remains a moment of rupture, a ‘ligne de fuite’, as Deleuze and Guattari posited in A Thousand Plateaux: a disruptive energy that manages to infiltrate the cracks in the system, to open up unexpected lateral viewpoints capable of showing the open spaces beyond the limits of conventions. And contemporary art is still a space of true, physical encounter between people and their aspirations.”
In line with this edition’s theme, the graphic design for this year features a sort of black visual diaphragm perforated by six circles that offer glimpses of a second photographic level. “We have selected a black, literal, symbolic mask through which one perceives images but never in a clearly legible way, capturing the gaze at first glance. They are famous images reproduced as enlarged portions – says Roberto Maria Clemente, director of FIONDA. – But we do not see only this: in each image one of the holes reveals a written message. These are stolen phrases, without indication of author and context, that suggest other interpretations of the image in a semantic drift that alternates common meanings with other prohibited, unspeakable things.”
The first new features of Artissima in 2019 include the arrival of new members of the selection committee for galleries and updated teams of international curators and directors for the curated sections.
The selection committee for the galleries participating in the Main Section, New Entries, Dialogue and Art Spaces & Editions updates its team of international gallerists, composed of Isabella Bortolozzi and Gregor Podnar (Berlin), Paola Capata of Monitor (Roma/Lisbon), and Alessandro Pasotti of P420 (Bologna), along with two new members: Raffaella Cortese (Milano) and Claudia Altman Siegel (San Francisco). Confirmation of Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti as the consultant for the New Entries section, set aside for emerging galleries.
The selection committees of the curated sections have been updated as follows:
▶︎ Selection Committee Back to the Future:
Lorenzo Giusti (coordinator), director GAMEC — Bergamo
Cristiano Raimondi, independent curator and artistic director, Società delle Api
Nicolas Trembley, independent curator and curator SYZ Collection, Paris-Geneva
▶︎ Selection Committee Disegni:
Luís Silva and João Mourão, directors Kunsthalle Lissabon — Lisbon
▶︎ Selection Committee Present Future:
Ilaria Gianni (coordinator), independent curator — Roma
Juan Canela, independent curator and art critic — Barcelona
Émilie Villez, director, KADIST — Paris
