11/12/2012

Pop Art Design at Vitra Design Museum

Pop Art Design at Vitra Design Museum

If you were to think about some of the most common art movements that became elusive arguments for myriads of different exhibitions around the world, surely in the first place you’d find French Impressionism and right after that the oh-so-popular Pop Art. Yes, this post-war art movement is 
one of the most analyzed subjects in any museum worldwide, and every single one of you reading this article must have seen one of these shows telling its history and legacy.


Many of the iconic elements of Pop Art, that introduced the vernacular and the everyday in the high circles of art, have been designed long before it had officially taken the stage: bold objects designed by Raymond Loewy, the colourful furniture and even more colourful lifestyle proposed by Charles and Ray Eames, or the intricate graphic designs of the period, have all penetrated the art world marking it unforgettably. Strangely enough the love-hate relationship of mutual contamination between Pop Art and design of that period has never been explored before the current “Pop Art Design” show at Vitra Design Museum.


The links between art and design of the period are fairly intricate, not only the graphic design of the period must have given a spin for the classic work of artists like Roy Lichtenstein and elements of penetrated design culture works of great masters like Andy Warhol, but many of the artists started off as designers themselves. Hence the show at Vitra Campus tries to untangle those stories showing some of the most interesting but disregarded relationships between art and design: from Gaetano Pesce’s or Achille Castiglioni’s furniture, to Jasper John’s paintings or rare screen designs by Andy Warhol. Even though grand part of what can be seen at the show is widely seen contemporary classics both in furniture design as well as in art, the close juxtaposition of the two fields might offer a new evaluation and inspiring insights in both disciplines, ultimately contributing to the idea that boundaries between art and design maybe don’t even exist.



“Pop Art Design” runs until the 3rd of February at Vitra Design Museum.

Rujana Rebernjak

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03/12/2012

Alberto Garutti Seen Through Unusual Eyes

Alberto Garutti Seen Through Unusual Eyes

Going to visit a contemporary art exhibition in children’s company can be a pleasant surprise, an amazing source of inspiration that offers myriad of reflections, watchful insights and cues coming from a genuine, superstructures-free point of view. We had already carried out this sort of pedagogical experience some time ago discovering the smart project by Emanuela Torri and DOREMILAB: L’arte raccontata dai bambini (art told by children). Once again Sofia (6 years old), this time along with Giulia (5 years old), has dressed the part of an emerging critic, going to see a show to make her fairly personal review.

We are at PAC, and the exhibition is Didascalia/Caption by Alberto Garutti, curated by Paola Nicolin and Hans Ulrich Obrist. 
Both Giulia and Sofia like the artist’s idea that artwork exists only in the eyes of the viewer, in the unique encounter with its addressees, and seem to be more than enthusiast to take on the assignment of making sense of his works, putting them through. Just got into the museum, which presents about thirty historical and new works to retrace Garutti’s research evolution from the 70’s to date, conceived with different media and languages (photography, installation, painting, sculpture, sound, video etc.), and the first impressions come punctual: “you don’t need to pay the entrance but mommy and daddy have signed a paper (ed. Note, the letter of waiver for the presence of recording devices). There are a lot of microphones, that’s so strange. Besides the microphones there would be cameras too because they capture people’s expressions, if you are happy you look different than when you get bored or you yawn”.

The atmosphere is homely; the children feel at ease; the dialogue is immediate and sincere; the narration begins. Giulia’s attention is attracted by the tables with digital prints of Bacheche progetti Opere Pubbliche (1994-2010): “Alberto put his secrets under the mirror that covers the tables, you can look at them but only he and one of his friends can really understand them. Secrets should be told to not more than one person. Nice microphones, I love singing”.

“Those microphones are giant, they work like Hoovers which draw in all the words people say while here”, Sofia adds.

After few minutes the exhibition path stops again because of huge beakers (Dedicato agli abitanti di Via dei Prefetti 17, 2004) that excite the little girls’ imagination: “Even giants have their bottles, they are thirsty too. It must have been difficult to bring them here, but they are beautiful. They seem fish tanks put like this [miming vertical with the help of her arms], hey look the show through the glass, you can see it bigger, like you have giant’s eyes”.


While following their suggestion, we cannot avoid thinking about the main characteristic of Garutti’s works, the ability of interacting with the viewer and the surrounding space, getting in tune with them. Didascalie (2012) reminds Sofia of bricks/books, but “you’ve better not build a house with them, unless you are one of the three little pigs”. “ I cannot read yet, but Sofia told me she has started reading… Sofi, how did you call them? Lower-case letters right?”

The visit goes on. The charismatic artist/professor, who has been able to have a positive ascendancy on most of the Italian emerging art talents, defining an attitude more then an aesthetic – all his students have developed a very different approach and personality – enchants Sofia and Giulia. Funny moment when they both think that Ficus (2012) is a present from Garutti’s mom for the opening and that it has very shiny leaves “maybe someone has been dusting them each day. Do you think it will be here until the end of the show, or Alberto will bring it home earlier?” “The bench with dog – Il cane qui ritratto appartiene a una delle famiglie di Trivero. Quest’opera è dedicata a loro e alle persone che sedendosi qui ne parleranno (2009) – is lovely, why benches like these aren’t in the parks? Alberto must like dogs”.


After more than one hour and a half inside the building, our emerging critics take their time to recap: “this exhibition is for males and females. It is a show that also children younger than us could like. We haven’t got bored, we have looked at the works and we would have loved going into the sculpture-house made of wood (upstairs), but we put there Elisa (their stuffed rabbit). The red carpet is great, we would like cutting capers. This space is beautiful, look! You can see the park while visiting the show and viceversa. There are even men in uniforms, but they have never reproached us or said “shut-up!” (…) the Doctor (ed. Note, the curator) has been good in picking up the works, we enjoy all of them”.

Conceptual art can be difficult to approach. Cerebral and cold in its shapes, but sensitive in content, and always related to spirituality and nature, the art by Mr. Garutti plumbs different narrative keys pinpointing the mission of getting closer to everybody. 
Undoubtedly one of the best shows seen in Milan during this year. It will run until 3rd February 2013.


Monica Lombardi and Giulia & Sofia – Images courtesy of Studio Pesci / Delfino Sisto Legnani

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27/11/2012

Meta-Monumental Garage Sale at MoMA

Meta-Monumental Garage Sale at MoMA

We all love flea markets. They allow us to look into someone’s past, to gaze into what they used to love and maybe even see their present and our future. At the same time, though they are most vivid testimonies of our materialist culture, showing off stuff we once fell in love with but despise or don’t need anymore (as if needing is still a valid argument for buying things). Flea markets are also magical places where the emotions and reality intertwine in play that is, in the end, all about possessing.

Maybe this is exactly what artist Martha Rosler was thinking about while staging her installation and performance event “Monumental Garage Sale” for the first time at the art gallery of the University of California in San Diego in 1973. After various replicas around the world scrupulously designed by the author, the performance, now titled “Meta-Monumental Garage Sale”, has reached the Museum of Modern Art in New York.


The installation, gathering objects belonging to the author as well as her friends and family, presents hundreds of second-hand goods that are organized, displayed and sold by the artist herself and her floor assistants. The visitors are encouraged to browse through the objects displayed, choose the items they want to buy and possibly haggle over prices, as if it were a casual garage sale found anywhere around the United States.

For more than 40 years Rosler, one of the most influential artists of her generation, has made art about the commonplace, art that illuminates social life, examining the everyday through photography, performance, video, and installation. What “Meta-Monumental Garage Sale” tries to point out is the role of commodities in our everyday life, how useless, vain and superficial they often can be.


The installation will be on display until friday the 30th of November.

Rujana Rebernjak – Images courtesy MoMA/Scott Rudd

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26/11/2012

Helke Bayrle – Portikus Under Construction

Helke Bayrle – Portikus Under Construction

In the most recent history of art, to build an archive is an important if not fundamental practice in the artist’s work. So it happens that among the recent exhibitions in Milano one of the most interesting ones is the video documentation collected since 1993 by the filmmaker Helke Bayrle displayed now at Peep Hole art space.

Born in 1941 in Torun, Poland, Helke Bayrle lives and works in Frankfurt am Main. Since 1969 she has worked together with her husband Thomas Bayrle, a key-figure of the pop-art in Germany, and from the early nineties, with her video camera, she has documented the installing and setting up of 123 exhibitions at Portikus, one of the pivotal spaces in the art institution, if one is to understand the development of contemporary art languages from the end of the eighties until today.

Watching such documentation the viewer can face the impressive collection of artist portraits. Helke Bayrle’s eye covers behind-the-scenes footage, situations and settings the viewer isn’t normally exposed to, once the exhibition is set up. The films are more than mere documentation. They are subjective and intimate observations of artist personalities and the process behind creating the individual exhibitions. Bayrle’s films are a rare case of a documentation approach mingled with pureness and consistency in vision.

The movies are produced in teamwork with Kobe Matthys since 1993, and after with Sunah Choi since 2001, the editing reveals the precise intention to create short and essential aspects to depict each artist in the development of their shows. She always shot the artists as they were installing their work; the viewers see and feel and understand the art they make better when you also get to meet them as people.

The footages cover the exhibitions of masters such Gilbert & George, John Baldessari, Tony Oursler, Raymond Hains, Jimmie Durham, as well as important personalities from the nineties like Rirkrit Tiravanija, Francis Alys, Matthew Barney, Paul Chan, stars from the Young British Artists as Mark Leckey, Sarah Lucas and Mark Wallinger and Italian artists as Maurizio Cattelan and Paolo Pivi. All their works were hosted in this incredible space of Portikus telling the progress with the living language of video.

And yet, another important presence shown in the the films is the participation of the students from the Städelschule located next to Portikus in Frankfurt. The films can help us to understand deeply the strong relationship between pupils and art students with an older generation of important artists and mentors and, didactically, in how different ways each artist develops his own installation.

Entering in the small art space in Via Panfilo Castaldi for the Bayrle’s exhibition (the last one hosted by Peep Hole before moving in a new base) the visitors can select and consult the different filmworks present in the “Portikus Under Construction” archive, allowing each one to “edit” a personal journey and create a personal portrait of the Portikus, experiencing extremely different, even contrary exhibitions in this space.

From 17 November to 20 December, 2012

Riccardo Conti

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23/11/2012

Nofound Contemporary Photography Fair

Nofound Contemporary Photography Fair

Last week Paris was put on the centre of the world’s photography map thanks to the acclaimed Paris Photo fair. As much as the giant fairs are always inspiring due to sheer quantity of exhibitors where you cannot not find something that’s just your cup of tea, it usually doesn’t offer the chance for exchange and experimentation. That is maybe one of the motives why the big fairs somehow give birth to a series of smaller events, that offer an alternative output for exploring new paths and reflections in contemporary art, design and photography. That was the case with Nofound contemporary photo fair, held in Paris from 16th – 19th of November.


Nofound, at its second edition this year, was born with the idea of offering an insight on those practices where photography and art intersect. This intimate fair proposed a series of projects that were accurately selected by the organizers following their strict choice to showcase works that are representative of the new direction the contemporary photography is taking. This new photographic scene is particularly dynamic, growing from and developing on the possibilities offered by the internet. The diversity and, yet, the similarities of many of the projects are somehow blatant examples of how the art world reflects the current changes in the society, where individuality is sought but lacked the most.

Among the showcased projects in the exhibition booths section, the ones we felt more surprised by was the stand by the Belgian collective Wilderness with soft yet raw photos of nature and intimate portraits, and MELK gallery from Oslo presenting work by Ola Rindal, Espen Gleditsch, Mårten Lange and Emil Salto.


In the installation booths and project space section, the fantastic Peter Sutherland’s and David Edward’s installation was the one we obviously loved the most. A few other names must be mentioned though, such as Harmony Korine’s solo show brought by ARTE and Galerie du jour Agnès, projects chosen by Prix Découverte/The deGroot Foundation, and Ed Templeton’s project of women putting on their make-up.

The familiar and informal feel of the Nofound photo fair was a great relief after the gigantic stands and superstar names seen at Paris Photo. It offered us a place for discovering new talented photographers, have a chat with our favourite artists and soak in a spirit of experimentation and touch of irreverence. That is why we’ll try catching up with the guys from Nofound again next summer for the Rencontres d’Arles photography festival.



Rujana Rebernjak

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21/11/2012

ONE ON ONE at KW

ONE ON ONE at KW

How often do you find yourself at a gallery opening, red carpet rolled out(!), all alone in the space together with the artwork? In Berlin there’s a golden rule saying that if you really want to see the art – don’t go to the opening night. But when the exhibition ONE ON ONE opened in Berlin’s KW Institute of Contemporary Art last Saturday, it turned out to be the exception that proves the rule.

Curated by Susanne Pfeffer, ONE ON ONE is made out of artworks to be experienced for one single person at a time, whether they are performative, installation-based, conceptual, material or immaterial. Capsuled into self-contained ad hoc spaces across the four floors of KW, works by iconic names such as Yoko Ono, Blinky Palermo and Hans-Peter Feldmann can be found next to those by a younger generation of Berlin-based artists like Nina Beier, Alicja Kwade and Jeremy Shaw.


While many of the booths resemble claustrophobic situation rooms, the spacious ground floor hall has been dedicated to Robert Kusmirowski’s work “Lichtung” (2012) of sand, trees and a green hill. Being all alone in the silent hall feels pretty peaceful, until the moment you walk around the hill to discover the mess of disturbingly realistic decomposing corpses in a ditch. Other works come with a more positive surprise effect, such as Annika Kahrs’ brilliant performance installation “For Two to Play on One” (2012), where two pianists stare back at you as you open the door, abruptly interrupted in their practice. Another highlight is the tongue-in-cheek humour of Hans-Peter Feldmann’s “One on One” (2012), a tempting stack of chocolate bars on a podium marked with the label “NEIN”. And if you’re lucky to be at KW at the right time, you might be the one to pick up the phone when Yoko Ono makes her daily call to her “Telephone Piece” (1971/2012).

Hopping from booth to booth as during an arty speed-dating is a direct and exclusive new way of experience art, space and time. The red carpet is rolled out for you in KW until January 20th.

Helena Nilsson Strängberg – Photos courtesy of Uwe Walter, der Künstler – Art by Trisha Donelly, Jeremy Shaw, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Yoko Ono

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21/11/2012

The Editorial: O, Twinkie

The Editorial: O, Twinkie

Ah, the twentieth century. Those hundred years in which all the scientific advances of centuries past converged into one gigantic, global sociotechno orgy: television, mechanical flight, vaccinations, space travel, solar energy, mobile phones, the harnessing of nuclear energy… and the Twinkie. That barf-inducing, impossibly supple, dizzyingly sugared confection made of thirty-seven distinct, mostly chemical, ingredients. And so century twenty will go down in history as the first in which humans willingly ate food that wasn’t actually food.

Long the definitive whipping boy of the ills of processed food, the Twinkie has become something of a cultural icon. Both derided and clung to steadfastly, it has spawned several variations, perhaps the worst of which is that staple of the American State Fair, the artery-clogging deep fried Twinkie. Retirees with sweet teeth are known to keep one or two stashed in the glove box of their Oldsmobile – they certainly travel well. It’s spawned a book called “Twinkie: Deconstructed,” a scientist’s ‘Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats.’ (Read the New York Times interview with its author on the subject here.) And that sweet-little-thing Mad Men era big shots kept in mink and Chanel in addition to their wives, they were “twinkies,” too.

“Ralph’s got a hot little twinkie in the city…” Wink. Wink.


In short, the Twinkie is vice incarnate. In the trial for Harvey Milk’s murderer in the 1970s, the defence argued successfully that it was the excess consumption of Twinkies and other sugary snacks that led to homicidal behaviour. And so, a killer was convicted of manslaughter and not murder. Riots ensued. (Blame the Twinkie.)

And for all its preservatives, a single Twinkie might just have been the one thing to survive the coming total apocalypse. (Rather appropriate for its coming-of-age in the nuclear age.) But, alas, even snack treats with nuclear half-lives of 25,000 years cannot overcome corporate greed. This week’s announcement that Hostess, the old anachronism of a company responsible for the delectable little indulgence, has decided to liquidate itself after a string of wildly poor decisions from a wildly greedy band of executives.

So, whether it’s spared the liquidation guillotine, is it right to feel ambivalent about the Twinkie’s passing? So much nostalgia! So satisfying to hate! So, could we possibly live in a world without deep-fried treats of the 37-ingredient variety?

San Francisco photographer Dwight Eschliman, known for his stunning and information-filled still lives, has photographed each of the Twinkie’s 37 ingredients separately.

Tag Christof – Images courtesy of Dwight Eschliman

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19/11/2012

La Photo à Paris

La Photo à Paris

From 1996, each year, mid-November, for four days, Paris turns into the world centre of historical and contemporary photography, gathering together the most important international galleries that work with this artistic language, expert and lovers, hosting them in the outstanding building of the Grand Palais. That’s Paris Photo, the heart of photography, where everybody can feel the thrill of making a journey through the history of this medium, moving from past to present and enjoying its masters and emerging talents.
 A load of visitors, many red stickers (synonym for good sales, and consequently good spirit); the atmosphere is sparkling. Maybe the only sore point – at least for our nationalist side – is the almost total default of Italian galleries (not being here it’s a bit like being on the bench of “photography games”.)

Our tour starts at Lumier de Roses that shows anonymous pictures from 19th and 20th century, whose value is not influenced by the name of the photographers, but is entirely due to their evocative power. Anonymous photography is also presented at the exhibition Private Collection, arranged thanks to the Archive of Modern Conflict, which counts 4 million different images created by both famous artists such as Boris Mikhailov and first-class unknowns.
 At Fraenkel‘s stand, a self portrait picture gallery by the renowned artist Lee Friedlander catches our attention, and it is another picture gallery, some stands after, at Weinstein Gallery to intrigue us: it is the work by internationally celebrated Alec Soth, who plumbs and interprets women’s intricacy.

We meet again Boris Mikhailov at Guido Costa Projects, while Paradise Row presents Adam Broomberg & Olivier Chamarin’s images from the new series “To photograph the details of a dark horse in low light”. Poker of aces at David Zwirner and Gagosian‘s respectively with names of the like of Philip-Lorca di Corcia, Gordon Matta-Clark and Thomas Ruff, Gregory Crewdson, William Eggleston, Douglas Gordon, Andreas Gursky and Hiroshi Sugimoto, just to mention a few.


A voice out of the choir for Westlicht, which exhibits the works of the Viennese Actionism – Günter Brus, Otto Muehl, Hermann Nitsch, Rudolf Schwarzkogler (who committed suicide in 1969) – characterized by a stark, sadomasochistic aesthetic.


We close our review mentioning one more space: Pace/MacGill Gallery with its four André Kertész’s small and intimate pictures that go under our favorite theme among the three main ones of the fair: “Small is beautiful”, “Le réel enchanté” (Enchanted Reality) and “La photographie française et francophone de 1955 à nos jours” (French and francophone photography from 1955 to the present day). 
For the new Paris Photo event that will be held at the Paramount Pictures Studios in Los Angeles – at the end of April 2013 – we just hope to see more young talents like Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants.

Monica Lombardi

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12/11/2012

Artissima Part 2. Inside the Fair

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.


Monica Lombardi – Many thanks to Paola C. Manfredi Studio

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12/11/2012

Artissima Part 1. Strolling Around The Streets

Artissima Part 1. Strolling Around The Streets

Just arrived in Torino, and before going to visit and report from the fair, we opted for discovering the streets and monuments profiting by the numerous events arranged by Artissima in collaboration with institutions, scattered around the regal city.


The first stage, after tasting the typical, irresistible sweet chestnuts while walking along the river Po turning towards the centre, is Palazzo Madama, venue of the Museum of Ancient Art, where we meet again Dan Perjovschi – it was less than two months ago when we first encountered and were affected by the incisive work by the Romanian artist. Ruin – Politics is the title of his latest show strongly influenced by the see-through floor structure, which opens the view over the remains of the Roman age. Once again Perjovschi’s drawings, which remind “cartoonish” images connoted by simplified marks and accompanied by sharp and ironic short texts, analyze social issues, from the global to the more local ones, and interpret conflicts, paradoxes and hopes of contemporary human beings. Crawling under the visitors’ feet, the artist performed his site-specific work, using the ruins as the background of a message that needs people to take it up. “Who did these foolish vignettes?” says a lady while entering the room. At first blush and without stopping at least for an instant to look at them, they could seem ordinary or even stupid sketches, but a small effort turns them into penetrating works, endowed with an amazing ability to synthesize, able to translate the complexity of our world into easy and ironic situations that make reflect.

From Palazzo Madama to Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo – after going around the city, taking wrong trams that lead us to wrong directions and getting lost twice in the pouring rain. Note: next time remember the map! – to see the exhibition by Ragnar Kjartansson, The End – Venezia. 114 canvases set up in a picture gallery that covers almost all the walls of the room from the ceiling to the floor. The protagonist is a sort of contemporary romantic hero, a pose, a modern Bohémien conceived for the 53rd Biennale of Venice and played by Kjartansson’s friend and fellow artist Páll Haukur Björnsson. Living the studio as both a rocker and a lagoon mermaid, who spends his time smoking cigarettes and drinking beer, dressed only in a micro Speedo swimsuit, he expresses all his loneliness and decadence conveying and emphasizing the cliché around the figure of the artist. The same subject repeated by Kjartansson in an obsessive way brings you back to the melancholic atmosphere of the studio where the canvases were painted and where the performance took place in 2009.

Before leaving the museum we cannot avoid taking a look at the show For President, curated by Mario Calabresi and Francesco Bonami, that delves into the spectacular world of American propaganda. Presenting gadgets, photographs shot by both professionals and the anonymous during the speeches of white house wannabes, but also video and installations, which retrace the history of USA presidential elections from the early beginning.


The first part of our report from Artissima is almost finished. We drop in at Cripta 747 to see the project Where is Your God now? by Kianoosh Motallebi, in the midway between art and science, and just before starving we move to Da Michele, a renowned restaurant in the city centre where art spectators lose their aplomb to turn into noisy, carefree wine lovers. Cheers!

Monica Lombardi

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