All the main news and events during Artissima Art Fair 2019...

For those who like to combine business with pleasure, an Italian trip during Artissima Art Fair is a perfect event during which you can immerse yourself into a triumph of art, food and wine... In one word, a true orgasm of pleasures! Artissima as a strong Italian art fair and Turin with its elegant charm, are ready to host this 26th edition directed by Ilaria Bonacossa, at her third mandate.  

Discover more about Artissima Art Fair, don't miss to take a glance also on our last article Autumn turns pink with Artissima Art Fair!

Running from Thursday 31 October (preview) to Sunday 3 November 2019 inside the OVAL Lingotto Fiere, the Italian fair exclusively devoted to contemporary art from all over the world will welcome over 55,000 visitors such as collectors, sector professionals and art lovers. The theme for Artissima’s 26th is the duality of desire/censorship, and as declared by the director Ilaria Bonacossa: 

Desire springs from the relationship between the body and society, between experienced reality and an imagined, coveted existence. 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.

KEY NEW FEATURES OF THE 2019 EDITION

FAIR & GALLERIES | HUB MIDDLE EAST: A NEW GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS

Artissima 2019, in collaboration with Fondazione Torino Musei and with advisors Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath (founders of the curatorial platform Art Reoriented), presents Hub Middle East, a new project that sets out to offer an overview of the galleries, institutions and artists active in a geographical area of central importance for developments in contemporary society.

ABSTRACT SEX: WE DON’T HAVE ANY CLOTHES, ONLY EQUIPMENT 

Abstract Sex: We don’t have any clothes, only equipment is the innovative off-site exhibition project of Artissima focussed on the theme of desire, in line with the theme of this edition of the fair. Occupying the spaces of Jana, the historic boutique in Turin, Abstract Sex: We don’t have any clothes, only equipment investigates the importance of desire in the most recent artistic and cultural research through videos, sculptures, works on canvas, paper, and objects presented by the galleries taking part in Artissima 2019. The project, conceived by Ilaria Bonacossa, is curated by Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti and Guido Costa.

ARTISSIMA TELEPHONE

Continuing last year’s investigation into ‘sound’, this year the fair launches Artissima Telephone, an exhibition project created with and for the spaces of OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni. Conceived by Ilaria Bonacossa and curated by Vittoria Martini, Artissima Telephone offers a survey of the use of the telephone as an art medium.

THE SELECTION COMMITTEES

Two new members have been added to the team of international gallerists, who form the selection committee for the galleries participating in the Main Section, New Entries, Dialogue and Art Spaces & Editions. Raffaella Cortese (Milan) and Claudia Altman Siegel (San Francisco) join existing members Isabella Bortolozzi and Gregor Podnar (Berlin), Paola Capata of Monitor (Rome, Lisbon, Pereto), and Alessandro Pasotti of P420 (Bologna). Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti has also been confirmed as curatorial consultant for the New Entries section dedicated to emerging galleries. The selection committees of the curated sections have been updated as follows: the selection committee for Back to the Future is composed of Lorenzo Giusti (coordinator), Cristiano Raimondi, and Nicolas Trembley; the selection committee for Present Future is composed of Ilaria Gianni (coordinator), Juan Canela, and Émilie Villez. João Mourão and Luís Silva have been confirmed for the Disegni section.

BACK TO THE FUTURE: A SURVEY TO CELEBRATE THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY

This year Artissima will present an overview of the artists that have featured in Back to the Future since 2010, surveying their careers and how their position in the art market has evolved since their participation in this section. This provides an opportunity to celebrate the 10th anniversary of an influential section of the fair focussed on the rediscovery of pioneers of contemporary art.

ARTISSIMA PROJECTS

The unique character of Artissima stems from its dual approach: contributing to the art market while also presenting a cultural offering capable of investigating new and different ways of presenting art inside the fair (fair), outside (around and in town), and across the entire year (365).
Artissima operates as a brand of excellence in the world of contemporary art, supporting and guiding companies across various sectors in the creation of projects which invest in cultural quality, to reinforce their positioning and identity.

7 SECTIONS

The fair will present seven sections... Four sections are selected by a fair’s committee composed by Claudia Altman Siegel, Isabella Bortolozzi, Paola Capata, Raffaella Cortese, Alessandro Pasotti, Gregor Podnar and Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti (curatorial consultant for the New Entries section).

• Main Section: presenting a selection of the most representative galleries on the international scene. This year 97 galleries will be showcased, including 50 international exhibitors.

• New Entries: section dedicated to emerging international players, with 20 galleries this year, 15 of which are from abroad.

• Dialogue: focusses on specific projects in which the works of maximum two artists are shown in close dialogue with each other, 30 galleries are participating, 22 of which are from abroad.

• Art Spaces & Editions: includes 7 exhibitors from galleries, project spaces and non-profit initiatives, all specialising in artists’ editions and multiples.

• Present Future: Present Future is the curated section of Artissima for emerging talents, this year the section will present the works of 20 artists presented by 22 galleries (16 international, 6 Italian)

• Back to the Future: Focus on the rediscovery of contemporary art pioneers, this section will present artists who have played a central role in the transformation of formal languages, and whose work actively influences contemporary practices today. In 2019 Back to the Future focusses on 19 artists, presented by 19 galleries (16 international 3 Italian).

• Disegni: Curated for the third year in a row by João Mourão and Luís Silva, directors of the Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon, Disegni is open to all forms of contemporary drawing. This year this section will be focus on the works of 21 artists, represented by 21 galleries (11 international, 10 Italian).

6 PRIZES

Thanks to the strong collaboration with sponsors and institutional partners, Artissima will awards six prizes for artists and galleries, assigned by international juries: illy Present Future Prize, Sardi per l’Arte Back to the Future Prize, Refresh Irinox Prize, OGR Award, Campari Art Prize, and Ettore and Ines Fico Prize.

TURIN ART WEEK 2019

Are you ready for this Turin Art Week 2019? As always all around the city there's no shortage of events in beautiful palaces and art spaces, scroll down for the list...

• Castello di Rivoli: "Michael Rakowitz. Imperfect Binding" (October 8, 2019 – January 19, 2020) - "Claudia Comte. How to Grow and Still Stay the Same Shape" (October 31, 2019 – February 23, 2020) - "Collection On View" (the Permanent Collection with over 200 artworks)  - "The Cerruti Collection"  (the collection of Francesco Federico Cerruti with more than 300 works of painting and sculpture, ranging from the Middle Ages to today) - "Yuri Ancarani. The Roots of Violence" (July 9 – November 10, 2019) - "D’après Leonardo" (July 9 – November 3, 2019);

• GAM: "Paolo Icaro. Anthology" (September 20, 2019 - December 1, 2019) - "Gino De Dominicis" (October 16, 2019 - March 8, 2020); 

• Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo: "Berlinde De Bruyckere" (November 1, 2019 –  March 15, 2020);

• Fondazione Merz: "Emilio Prini" (October 28, 2019 - February 9, 2020);

• OGR (Officine Grandi Riparazioni): "Monica Bonvicini. As Walls Keep Shifting" (October 31, 2019 - February 9, 2020) - "Mauro Restiffe. History as Landscape" (October 31, 2019 - January 5, 2020) - "William Kentridge. Procession of Reparationists"  (October 1, 2019 - 30 December 2019) - "Arturo Herrera. Track" (October 1, 2019 - January 1, 2020); 

• Palazzo Frichignono: "Ryts Monet. Schuld" organized by ARTECO (October 26, 2019 - November 2, 2019);

• Collateral Art Fairs: Nesxt Festival (October 29 - November 3, 2019 / Via Valprato 68, Turin); The Others Fair (October 31 - November 3, 2019 / Ex Ospedale Militare A. Riberi); Dama 2019 (October 30 - November 3, 2019 / Palazzo Coardi di Carpeneto).

Cover image: Artissima Fair. Photo Perottino – Piva – Bottallo. Courtesy Artissima 

Stay Tuned on Kooness magazine for more exciting news from the art world.