In the early November each year all the art spotlight goes to Turin, as the city is hosting Italy’s most important contemporary art fair ARTISSIMA. Established in 1994, it combines the presence on an international market with a focus on experimentation and research, with 208 galleries from 43 countries participating this year. In addition to a traditional art fair, Artissima includes also three art sections directed by an international team of art curators and museum directors. Present Future section is dedicated to the emerging talents, while Back to the Future will host solo exhibitions of the pioneers of contemporary art, this time the focus is narrowed to the period of ‘60-’90. The 3rd section – Disegni is devoted to the expressive medium of drawing.
The 26th edition of Artissima will open on the 31st Oct 2019 at the Oval pavilion in Turin and will be available to the public between 1-3 Nov 2019. This year’s theme is the duality of desire as reflected on the power of the image.
Running parallel to Artissma, DAMA is an independent and collaborative project founded in 2016 and dedicated to a group of art galleries, aiming to create a full dialogue with the hosting venue. The new edition of the project takes place in two historical locations in the center of Turin, Palazzo Coardi di Carpeneto and Palazzo Birago di Borgaro. 11 emerging artists from the most promising art galleries all over Europe and beyond will present their site-specific artworks in line with the spaces allocated, characterized by baroque charm and original frescoes by Domenico Guidobono. The list of 11 participating galleries includes: Arcade (London-Brussels), Berthold Pott (Cologne), Cassina projects (Milan), Franz Kaka (Toronto) LETO (Warsaw), Piktogram (Warsaw), Vitrine (London-Basel). The dates for DAMA 2019 are: 30 Oct 2019 – 3 Nov 2019. The admission for most of the exhibitions and events is free of charge.
As Contemporary Lynx partnered up with both projects: Artissima 2019 and DAMA 2019, let us give you some hints on the most interesting exhibitions and accompanying events.
DAMA 2019: Live Programme
Live Programme curated by Elise Lammer (SALTS, Basel) is one of the highlights of this year’s edition of DAMA. A group of artists invited by the curator, including Bekim Sébastien Krivaqa, Lonely Boys, Caroline Mesquita, Adrian Piper, and Dorian Sari will present their video and performance works.
DAMA Art Fair
Artissima: Abstract Sex: We don’t have any clothes, only equipment
This is a new off-site exhibition project by Artissima, being located in the cool spaces of avant-garde fashion boutique on Via Maria Vittoria, often associated with artistic bohema. The exhibition is curated by Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti and Guido Costa. It focuses on the theme of desire, in line with the overall theme of this year’s edition of the fair. The project features photographs, videos, works on canvas and paper. “Abstract Sex: We don’t have any clothes, only equipment suggests unexpected alliances between bodies, bacteria, objects and machinery, and technologies to disarm the traditional representations of desire”, as we can read from the official press release.
Artissima: Abstract Sex
Artissima: Special Projects at the Fair
Apart from a traditional fair, Artissima 2019 offers its visitors a rich programme of artists special projects. One of them is Head, a collaborative performance with the hairstylist Franco Curletto and the artist Tomaso Binga. Curletto is quite well-known in the world of fashion, cinema and art, while Tomaso Binga, with her male pseudonym chosen as an act of protest, has developed her work in the field of visual and sound poetry since the early 1970s. Her projects tend to shock and amuse, often being based on the private life of the artist.
Another great project is Concrete, a special capsule collection of 400 metal eyeglasses with photochromic lenses, prepared in collaboration with Italian brand VANNI occhiali and the artist Cristian Chironi. The shapes and aesthetics of the chosen models are based on various locations in the world where the artist has lived and worked. Visitors who wear the glasses at the fair will be involved in a direct interaction with the artist.
Together, the third special project, is the new concept for the Vip Lounge conceived by 100x100factory and Studio Vudafieri-Saverino Partners with Nick Devereux. It represents the synergy between furnishings, design and art, while reflecting the perfect match between functional quality and beauty.
Artissima: Projects in town and around
Art Mapping Piemonte is a project organised in collaboration with the Piedmont Region, to help visitors discover contemporary art away from the traditional exhibition models. The initiative involves three site-specific installations by great contemporary artists: Mario Airò, Olivier Mosset and Zhang Enli. Also, the visitors will be offered a special map that highlights the most outstanding works of public contemporary art in the Piedmont territory. The map could be found in a guide edited for Artissima by Vittoria Martini, featuring food and wine recommendations provided by Gambero Rosso.
Mario Airò – The elegy of whiteness
…ma l’amor mio non muore is a large installation by Marcello Maloberti set up at the hotel Principi di Piemonte di UNA Esperienze, an impressive rationalist-style building, one of Turin’s most refined architectural gems. The theme of this performative and sculptural installation is power. It will be available to see from 28 October to 3 November 2019. The opening will be on Sunday 27 October 2019 at 5.30pm.
…ma l’amor mio non muore
The Italian Job is a tribute promoted by Gruppo Building to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the homonym film shot in Turin and featuring a surprising installation, Hang On A Minute Lads… I’ve Got A Great Idea, by the British sculptor Richard Wilson. The artist, inspired by the movie’s final scene, balanced a full-sized replica coach on the very edge of the roof at Domus Lascaris, a completely refurbished rationalist building from the 1950s, activating a series of artistic performances. The project also refers to the exit of the UK from the EU on 31 Oct 2019. It will be on view from 31 October until 2 December 2019.
The Italian Job
Artissima Telephone
Artissima Telephone is launched as the second off-site project created for the spaces of OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni. Curated by Vittoria Martini, the exhibition offers an overview of the telephone as a means of artistic expression, presenting selected works from the galleries taking part in the fair. The project refers to the current issues that people experience with relation to their own devices, such as mobile phone addictions. It raises the topic of mobile devices being an essential element of contemporary social relations. In the exhibition, the telephone is used as an objectual or conceptual medium. As stated in the press notes, “Artissima Telephone prompts further reflection on the development of existing technologies, and how they have reformulated the notions of public and private, physical and digital space, intimacy and sharing”.
Contemporary Lynx team will participate in the Artissima Art Fair. Find our solo stand in media zone section. We will sell new issue of print magazines for a special prize. We are also a proud media partner of DAMA. Find the copies of magazines at the venue.
