Artissima Part 2. Inside the Fair
As a fixed element of Artissima, heavy rain accompanies also the 19th edition of the Turinese event that has established itself as the most important Italian fair devoted to contemporary art. Divided in five segments – Main Section, New Entries, Present Future, Back to the future and Art editions – the fair hosts 172 stands between Italian and foreign galleries, exploiting strengthened formulas and introducing some news. The atmosphere seems to be relaxed inside the Lingotto building, there is no crowd, we walk around the corridors casting a glance to the presented artworks, the quality is as usual high and many pieces catch our attention, but being thrilled is another kettle of fish. Since homogeneity makes it hard to pinpoint outstanding works, we focus on galleries, which have been able to display interesting proposals both in terms of set up and their roster of artists.
Among them we mention Raffaella Cortese Gallery that presents works by Kiki Smith, Ana Mendieta, Marcello Maloberti, Anna Maria Maiolino – we look forward to seeing a solo exhibition by her after the success of Documenta – and the striking pictures by Zoe Leonard; Lisson Gallery with six small lovely collages by Jonathan Monk and a deserving, minimal glass series/installation by Florian Pumhösl; and Oredaria, whose stand hosts beautiful works (stars and earth) by the representative of Arte Povera, Gilberto Zorio and the delicate sculptures by the German artist Christiane Löhr, who plays with natural elements such as seeds, stems, horsehair and small plants to create charming compositions influenced by geometrical forms.
Despite the presence of some of the most important galleries of the worldwide contemporary art panorama, maybe the most well-made section is Back To The Future, the part dedicated to artists active on the international scene during the 60’s and 70’s. Even if we are all conscious of the appeal and importance of the artists that went down in history as Valie Export, we find odd that so many young artists get inspiration from an art of 40/50 years ago relating to such a breaking time, without having full awareness of it and without being able – or having the same power – to go against a social system.
We keep looking into the future since, after all, It’s Not The End Of The World… perhaps.
