A as in Autumn, and obviously as in Artissima. Torino lifts the curtain and becomes the protagonist of contemporary art in Italy with an intense programme of exhibitions and events involving the main institutions and galleries in the city. Here are the appointments not to be missed.
Starting on 8 October, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea presents the first European retrospective on Michael Rakowitz, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Iwona Blazwick and Marianna Vecellio. Among others, the show will feature the work The flesh is yours, the bones are ours (2015), acquired during Artissima 2016 by Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT for the collection of the museum. Starting on 30 October, it will also be possible to visit How to Grow and Still Stay the Same Shape, the first solo show of the Swiss artist Claudia Comte in an Italian museum, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Marianna Vecellio, while on 1 November, during Artissima, there will be the opening of Becoming Male in the Middle Ages, the solo show by Pedro Neves Marques, winner of the illy Present Future Prize in 2018, and curated by Marianna Vecellio. On view until 10 November, The Roots of Violence by Yuri Ancarani, a film trilogy curated by Marcella Beccaria. The programming is completed by an exhibition dedicated to the activity of the Dena Foundation for Contemporary Art, on view until 23 February, and Air, Flowers, Salt, an itinerary through new acquisitions and important works in the museum’s collection.
At GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea until 6 January, the exhibition Paolo Icaro. Antologia/Anthology 1964-2019, curated by Elena Volpato, is a retrospective containing about fifty works, some made specifically for this show. For its 20th anniversary, VideotecaGAM announces its collaboration with the Historical Archives of the Venice Biennale, ASAC, for the creation of a cycle of six exhibitions, curated by Elena Volpato; the first will be on Gino De Dominicis, opening on 15 October. From 25 October the spaces of the Wunderkammer host Le figure di Primo Levi, a selection of works in metal wire made by the great writer and intellectual, curated by Guido Vaglio. Also, on 29 October in relation to the new Artissima project Hub Middle East, the site-specific installation The Caliph Seeks Asylum by the artist from Saudi Arabia Muhannad Shono will be presented in the garden of the GAM, in collaboration with the Athr Gallery of Jeddah. Finally, in collaboration with AMACI, the spaces of the ticket desk will feature the work Uffici (2017) by Eva Marisaldi, for the Giornata del Contemporaneo on 12 October.
On 1 November Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo opens a major solo show on Berlinde De Bruyckere, curated by Irene Calderoni. For the occasion, the artist has created a specific body of works that develops through monumental sculptures and culminates in a large environmental installation. At Fondazione Merz – until 28 October – visitors can see the exhibition by Emilio Prini, curated by Beatrice Merz and Timotea Prini, which for the first time brings together a nucleus of over 40 works, from 1966 to 2016, in a tribute to one of the most interesting exponents of Arte Povera.
The programming at OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni includes – starting on 31 October – a new installation by Monica Bonvicini created specifically for OGR, curated by Nicola Ricciardi and Samuele Piazza, and a solo show by Mauro Restiffe, curated by Nicola Ricciardi and Giulia Guidi, in which the photographer narrates Italy through various projects by Carlo Mollino, Piero Portaluppi and Carlo Scarpa, among others. The collaboration with Artissima continues to investigate sound, with the exhibition Artissima Telephone, a survey of works that use the telephone as an artistic medium. The project is conceived by Ilaria Bonacossa and is curated by Vittoria Martini.
MEF – Museo Ettore Fico hosts ME TWO until 30 October, an exhibition in two sections curated by Andrea Busto and Elsa Ravazzolo Botner, and presenting a selection of works from the vast collection of Ernesto Esposito, the internationally renowned fashion designer. The first, Some People, analyses the history of photography from Von Gloeden to the present, while Brasil! is an engaging survey of Brazilian contemporary art of the last twenty years.
At PAV the investigation continues on the relationship between artistic practices and ecological thinking in Asia, with Samakaalik: Earth Democracy and Women Liberation, the first solo show in Italy by the Indian artist Navjot Altaf, narrating the struggle of indigenous communities against the power of the state and the multinational corporations. Curated by Marco Scotini, opening on 2 November.
CAMERA – Italian Centre for Photography welcomes visitors on 17 October with WO | MAN RAY. Le seduzioni della fotografia, an exhibition curated by Walter Guadagnini and Giangavino Pazzola that includes about 200 photographs by the great master, all on the subject of women. The Project Room, starting on 30 October, presents Tommaso Bonaventura. 100 marchi – Berlino 2019, a project by the photographer in collaboration with the curator Elisa Del Prete, to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
From 19 October, Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli flanks its permanent collection with the exhibition Journey through a Changing Japan, a selection of extraordinary woodcuts by three great masters, Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige and Kawase Hasui. Curated by Rossella Menegazzo and Sarah E. Thompson. Until 11 November, Palazzo Madama presents the exhibition Dalla Terra alla Luna. L’arte in viaggio verso l’astro d’argento, curated by Luca Beatrice and Marco Bazzini, with over sixty works including paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings and design objects, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Also, from 1 to 13 November, in collaboration with Artissima and Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco, there is the presentation of the winner of the PIAC – Prix International d’Art Contemporain, assigned every three years to a recent work by an artist. This year the three finalist works are: Tree Identification for Beginners (2017) by Yto Barrada; Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death (2016) by Arthur Jafa; FRAGMENTS (2016-in progress) by Rayyane Tabet. The winner will be announced during a special ceremony in Monte Carlo on 15 October.
Fondazione 107 celebrates the first decade of activity, opening three projects curated by Federico Piccari on 19 October: 12 Horses – Homage to Jannis Kounellis, the first European solo show by the American painter Lara Nickel; Mehr Licht by Franco Rasma, a very refined production split between painting and sculpture; and Between a Picnic and Chaos, a profound reflection on drawing by Nicola Toffolini. Finally, Barriera hosts a solo show by Agnieszka Polska starting on 3 November, I Call your Name, addressing pressing environmental issues through a selection of animated photographs and film sequences.
During the Turin art week, two innovative projects of Artissima will open in town. Abstract Sex: We don’t have any clothes, only equipment, conceived by Ilaria Bonacossa and curated by Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti and Guido Costa, is an exhibition focused on the theme of desire, occupying the spaces of Jana, the fashion boutique on Via Maria Vittoria, from 31 October to 3 November. Thanks to the new partnership with Gruppo UNA, during the fair and until 3 November, the large performative and sculptural installation …ma l’amor mio non muore by Marcello Maloberti is on view in the ballroom of the 5-star Principi di Piemonte Hotel.
The fall calendar also includes programming on the part of galleries in Torino. From 3 October Biasutti&Biasutti presents L’emozione del colore, a retrospective on Giulio Turcato covering a time span from the early 1960s to the 1980s. Starting on 2 November, Guido Costa Project hosts the exhibition by Cuoghi Corsello, while Riccardo Costantini Contemporary presents Ammutinamento, a solo show by Gianni Colosimo, starting on 16 October.
From 31 October Cripta 747 presents the works of Lee Fraser and Hilary Galbreaith, fellows of the third edition of Cripta747 Residency Programme.
On 2 November Galleria Raffaella De Chirico presents the solo show by the Iranian artist Mohsen Baghernejad, with installations that reflect his research on materials, architecture and writing. Starting on 31 October, at Gagliardi e Domke visitors can see the group show Reale Virtuale; Giorgio Galotti opens Del Mero Essere on 10 October, the first solo show by Gabriele Silli, a substantial sculptural project specifically made for the space, together with works on paper. Until 21 December In arco features a show by Fabrizio Plessi, and until 16 November Norma Mangione Gallery, hosts Ventiquattr’ore di luce, an exhibition of paintings by Salvo made from 1982 to 2014.
Starting on 25 October in the historic rooms on Piazza Solferino, Mazzoleni hosts the exhibition Hans Hartung, a retrospective on a key figure of European Informal Art, while the solo project by Rebecca Moccia will be hosted in the window on Via Cernaia. Galleria Franco Noero presents an October full of events with A-A’, B-B’ by Simon Starling, from 15 October in the spaces at Piazza Carignano, while in the facility on Via Mottalciata, starting on 29 October, the gallery offers a solo show by Phillip Lai and the exhibition Blinded by the Light by Henrik Hakansson.
On 24 October Noire Gallery opens a solo show by David Tremlett, and an exhibition by Valentin Carron and Gardar Einarsson, while Galleria Davide Paludetto presents, starting on 29 October, Project-Room #15 by Iacopo Pinelli, and from 30 October the exhibition T30 by Paolo Grassino, held at Palazzo Saluzzo Paesana. Until 25 October, at Alberto Peola the group show Trenta Volte Settembre is in progress, a narrative of multiple voices to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the gallery, followed starting on 2 November by the solo show of Perino&Vele. Giorgio Persano presents Systems of Systems by Paolo Cirio until 16 November, while until 15 October Photo & Contemporary hosts the exhibition The Body featuring photographic works by Giovanni Gastel and starting on 2 November the group show Saturday Night Art Show.
In the Torino location of Tucci Russo Studio per l’Arte Contemporanea, until 25 January, visitors can see the solo show by Richard Long featuring a series of works on wood, as well as a text work and a mud work made on site, while in the Torre Pellice facility, from 6 October, the gallery presents the solo show Motore by Alfredo Pirri. Finally Weber & Weber opens Party Hard on 29 October, the first solo show by the artist Bruno Fantelli. We should also mention events and projects offered by other institutions and spaces in Torino and vicinity.
For further updated info, visit our website, section “Events in town”: https://www.artissima.art/archive-catalogue-2022/en/events-in-town/
