What's Next After Torino Porta Nuova? 2018 Contemporary Art Week

Turin’s central train station, Torino Porta Nuova (the “New City Gate”), is the place to which many visitors will flock to take part in the Italian city’s 2018 Contemporary Art Week. May we ask, and in consequence also respond, what’s there to see in the city, after leaving the station of Torino Porta Nuova?

There is, of course, the soon-to-be crowded Oval Lingotto, also known as the Oval Olympic Arena, constructed to host the speed skating competitions at the XX Olympic Winter Games in Turin in 2006. Located on 70 Giacomo Mattè Trucco street, the huge, modern edifice will become a platform for the 189 established and up-and-coming galleries participating, from Italy and 35 other countries. Furthermore, the Artissima Fair will host over 50 thousand visitors within the mentioned OVAL building. For the second time in a row, the fair is directed by Ilaria Bonacossa, and this time will refer to the subject of time.

One of the most vivid and historically important Italian locations, the capital of the expansive Piemonte region – the city of Turin – will this year have the pleasure of hosting the Artissima Art Fair for the 25th time. The event takes place from the 1st until the 4th November and it’s Italy’s largest fair focusing on contemporary art and experimental practices.

It is worth knowing that “artissima” is a neologism, formed as a superlative of the word “art”. The Italian language calls for adding “-ssima”/“-ssimo” suffixes to adjectives, in order to jazz up their neutral form. The name of the fair is comprised of the noun “art” in its superlative form, which is grammatically wrong, yet abstractly appealing.

A. Artissima:

Artissima: Rosa Santos Gallery: The Spanish gallery will present a range of ethnic objects by Elena Aitzkoa, all of them resembling weird, clothes-like, colourful flowers, created by human hands, exceeding half a meter on each side. Her work is part of both the “Present Future” and “Main Section” of Artissima 2018. It is worth taking a moment to look closer at the works and practice prolonging one’s attention span, while discovering numerous layers of these sophisticated sculptures.   

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Artissima: Żak Branicka: The Berlin-based gallery will present objects by the Polish artist Jarosław Kozłowski and Barbara and Gabriele Schmidt Heins in the “Main Section” of Artissima at Booth Dark Blue 10.  

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Artissima: BWA Warszawa: This year, the Polish gallery’s stand will be overtaken by one sole artist, Ewa Axelrad.  Known for her illustrations, objects, photographs and videos, she will exhibit her works within the whole space dedicated to Warsaw’s BWA at Artissima. We will be invited to see the monumental “Breakblood Breaksoil Breakwater 1” and “(…) 2”, magnificent sculptures in continuous dialogue with each other, which represent the longing for unity and the rise of nationalist sentiments, “Shtamah #1” video and “Shtamah #3” photography.

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Artissima: La Frutta: The Rome-based gallery, owned by James Gardner, will exclusively present one acrylic and oil on canvas piece by Gabriele De Santis – the enchanting “Portame ar mare, do te pare, tanto spacco uguale”, 2017, loosely translated as “Take me to the seaside, or wherever you wish, I will rock it anyway”. Hopefully, the booth won’t seem empty with the one sole painting exposed, since the gallery is worth visiting.   

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Artissima: Rodriguez gallery: The Poznań(PL)-based gallery, founded by Carlos Rodriguez Sainz-Pardo and Agata Rodriguez-Jedrusiak, will exhibit Dalila Gonçalves and Michał Martychowiec in the “New Entries Section” of Artissima 2018.   

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Artissima: Revolver Galeria: This is an international mix worth discovering – Marlena Kudlicka, born in the Polish town of Tomaszów Lubelski and currently residing in Berlin, will be represented by the Peruvian Revolver Gallery, guided by Giancarlo Scaglia (a fascinating painter himself, by the way) and Carla Guardiola.

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Artissima: Clima: A Milanese gallery which quite never misses it. With its calm and deliberated curatorial strategy, the gallery hardly ever receives negative feedback, and at the same time remains classy and innovative. At Artissima fair we will see the works of five artists: Andrew Ross, Jason Gomez, Lisa Dalfino and Sasha Kanah, and Matteo Nasini. Here’s an interesting fact – apparently all the works will be in white, grey or beige tones.

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Artissima: Rolando Anselmi Gallerie: Ewa Juszkiewicz
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Artissima: Contemporary Lynx Magazine will participate in the Artissima Art Fair for the third time. The latest issue 2(10) 2018  will be available at our solo stand at the magazines’ section.

Artissima fair also has got a section dedicated to Sound. Among many events, Charlemagne Palestine is going to perform in the OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni [B] (corso Castelfidardo 22, Turin). There is also an Aphex Twin concert –  a part of the Club to Club 2018 event taking place between 1-4 November.

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C. The National Museum of Cinema: on  3 November, as part of the Contemporary Art Night, the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin invites to the screening of a video by a British artist, Marianna Simnett. The event was recommended on Instagram by Edoardo Bonaspetti – the curator of Milan’s Triannale.

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D. DAMA: The project was born out of the independent idea of Giorgio Galotti. Though never officially united with the leading art fair, DAMA takes place in the same period and hosts a sufficient number of galleries, collectives and collectors who are invited to adopt their views in the eighteenth-century interiors of Palazzo Saluzzo Paesana. Keeping in mind the origins of globally-known issues surrounding non-profit art organisations, the organisers, with the support of GUEST and Museo Ettore Fico di Torino, have focused on support for emerging, captivating galleries. In consequence, this year, one of the chosen galleries’ exhibitions will be entirely sponsored. The exhibiting galleries and represented artists are as follows: Bonny Poon Paris – Marie Karlberg, Giorgio Galotti Torino – Renata de Bonis, Hubert Winter Vienna – Tina Lechner, SVIT Prague – Habima Fuchs, Piktogram Warsaw – Florian Auer, Osnova Moscow – Nika Neelova, Leto Warsaw – Konrad Smolenski, Edel Assanti London – Marcin Dudek, Arcade London – Caroline Achaintre, Berthold Pott Cologne – Johanna Von Monkiewitsch, Cassina Projects New York – Yves Scherer, Fiebach, Minninger Cologne – Lisa Tiemann, Siliqoon Milano – OHLSSON/DIT-CILINN, The Goma Madrid – Cristina Garrido, Furiosa Monte Carlo – Nick Oberthaler, Tenderpixel London – Peter Bartoš curated by Petra Feriancová and Borbàla Soòs. The event will be accompanied by a live programme by Matha Kirszenbaum and performance by Alex Baczynski-Jenkins.

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E. Cripta747 Programme: Residence Studio Programme, (address: via Quittengo 41 BIS in Turin). Participating artists: Andrew Wagner (NY, 1992) and Gernot Wieland (Horn, 1968) – 31 October at 18:30.

Riccardo Previdi – 2 November.

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Torino NESXT Festival: As well as DAMA, it starts on the day before the beginning of Artissima, but it isn’t composed only of art exhibitions. The independent Festival proposes mainly talks, meetings and workshops (such as “Palestra del pensiero” – “The mental gym”), as well as portfolio reviews, performances, poetry readings and concerts.  It’s going to take place in various venues on the territory of Turin.

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F. FLAT – Fiera Libro Arte Torino: As an international event dedicated exclusively to contemporary art publications, this festival also offers conversations, talks, performances and workshops coordinated by Francesca Valentini. Italians really do love to meet and interact with people, so it was probably never supposed to be just an uptight books presentation. FLAT was founded by Chiara Caroppo, Beatrice Merz and Mario Petriccione. Taking place in La Centrale Nuvola Lavazza on 32 Bologna Street, it will begin on the 2nd November and close on the 4th. It’s going to host 44 participants who will bring to the table all the novelties from the editors’ field: authors’ books, exhibitions’ catalogues, monographs, essays, special editions, out-of-print and magazines. Among the post-mortem encounters: Dieter Roth and his collection of more than a hundred self-designed art books will be presented by Elena Volpato from GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. It’s worth to pay attention to the venue. An ex-industrial area of Enel – the most significant electricity provider in Italy – the building was constructed in 1897 by Ermenegildo Perini and later developed by the Cino Zucchi Architetti group. Its surface proudly expands onto almost 30 thousand square meters, out of which 4500 are destined to host cultural and business events.

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G. Paratissima: From the 31st October to the 4th November, the Paratissima event, themed “Feeling different”, will rebuild its rebellious forces to present the exhibition originally thought of as an “off” from Artissima, and which has already become one of the most important events of Turin Art Week. The show will present a wide range of Italian and international artists for the fourteenth time. The venue of Caserma La Marmora will present artists’ works focused on the subject of diversity and respect for each other, for established formulas, norms and schemas.

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H. The Others: Thought as a creative enrichment to the traditional art fair, “The Others”, founded by Roberto Casiraghi will occupy Regina Maria Adelaide, a former hospital in 87 Lungo Dora Firenze. Hundreds of emerging artists from all over the world will exhibit this year to release creative, independent energy. The nomadic curatorial experience, which won’t inhabit the ferocious former hospital interiors for the first time, sounds rather persuasive. Does the existence of “The Others” mean that the main Artissima fair doesn’t meet all the needs of visitors? Where does an urge to set up a parallel fair, probably equally pulsating with youth and freshness, just next door, come from? This issue requires deeper research.

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I. Reggia di Venaria Reale: Cani in posa: Not very contemporary, yet definitely not one to miss! The exhibition called “Cani in posa” (“Dogs posing”) from antiquity to now, somehow conveys the post-antropocentric questions through art, or at least attempts to put a focus out there. Located at 4 Piazza della Repubblica, Venaria Reale is curated by Francesco Petrucci and literally presents dogs in art, surprisingly not only as a man’s best friends, but also as heroes of the images themselves. The exhibition takes place in Turin from the 20th October to the 10th February. Its real quality remains a surprise, until you’ve taken a look.    

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J. Castello di Rivoli – Museo di Arte Contemporanea: “Giorgio de Chirico. Capolavori dalla Collezione di Francesco Federico Cerruti”: The well-known painter’s exhibition has been on in Turin for around 7 months already. Curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Marcella Beccaria, it opened on the 6th of March and will reach its end on the 4th of November. For those who couldn’t visit it before, Turin Art Week is high time to finally get a glimpse, as the painter’s exhibition will finish along with other fair events. The exhibition investigates the artist’s rich intellectual heritage by presenting his paintings in relation to some of the most important works of contemporary art in the Museum’s permanent collection, including installations by Giulio Paolini, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Maurizio Cattelan. As De Chirico used to say: “The city of Turin seems to be made for philosophical dissertations”. Could you ask for a better boost? That’ll do!

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K. Jorge Macchi – Der Zauberg – Quarz Studio: solo show by South American artist Jorge Macchi entitled “Der Zauberg” opens on the 3rd of November.

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