Opening exhibitions
Orizzonte Nord-Sud. Leading figures of European art North and South of the Alps 1840–1960
September 12, 2015–January 10, 2016
Anthony McCall. Solid Light Works
September 12, 2015–January 31, 2016
In Ticino. Art in Italian-speaking Switzerland 1840–1960
September 12, 2015–February 28, 2016
Mnemosine Theatre. Giulio Paolini d’après Watteau
Giancarlo and Danna Olgiati Collection
Spazio -1
September 12, 2015–January 10, 2016
Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano
LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura
Piazza Bernardino Luini, 6
CH – 6901 Lugano
Hours: Sunday–Wednesday 10:30–18:30h,
Thursday–Saturday 10:30–20h
T +41 (0)58 866 4200
info [at] masilugano.ch
The long-awaited LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura opened in Lugano, on September 12, starting three weekends of celebrations. It is a new arts centre dedicated to the visual arts, music and the performing arts, which promises to become one of Switzerland’s most important cultural institutions, with the aim to promote a wide range of art and to establish Lugano as a cultural crossroads between Northern and Southern Europe.
The striking architectural structure, overlooking the lake, provides space for a rich programme of exhibitions, events, concerts, theatrical and dance performances, along with a variety of cultural initiatives and a packed programme of activities for young people and families.
The LAC is also home to the Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano formed by the merging between the Museo Cantonale d’Arte and the Museo d’Arte Lugano. Located over three floors, the gallery will hold a permanent exhibition containing the collections of the City of Lugano and Cantone Ticino, temporary exhibitions and site-specific installations.
On September 12, four temporary exhibitions, running until early 2016, inaugurated the new spaces of the Museum. The big exhibition Orizzonte Nord-Sud. Leading figures of European art North and South of the Alps 1840–1960 spreads itself over two floors of the Museum: an extraordinary dialogue between the protagonists of two centuries of art, from North of Gotthard to the place “where lemon trees bloom.” This exhibition is accompanied by a complementary one at the Palazzo Reali—the historical site of the Museo Cantonale d’Arte—entitled In Ticino. Art in Italian-speaking Switzerland 1840–1960 aiming to explore art in Ticino during the period characterised by significant patterns of emigration together with a steady inward flow of artists in the Cantone Ticino.
The underground floor of the Museum at the LAC hosts a solo exhibition Anthony McCall. Solid Light Works, expressly conceived by the Anglo-american artist for this new space. The spectator discovers four solid light sculptures, realized between 2001 and 2013, and the digital version of his main art work, Line Describing a Cone, 1973.
The Italian artist Giulio Paolini is the key player of Spazio -1, with his project Mnemosine Theatre. Giulio Paolini d’après Watteau, as part of a series of appointments with artists from the Giancarlo and Danna Olgiati Collection. The Mnemosine (Les Charmes de la Vie, 1981–1990) cycle composed by six works by Giulio Paolini dedicated to the goddess of memory and created over a nine-year period, for the very first time brought together under the artist’s personal supervision. At the same time Spazio -1 houses the new set up of Giancarlo and Danna Olgiati Collection.
The LAC is also home to music, theatre and dance, thanks to its new 1,000 seats concert and theatre hall, entirely wood-panelled and fitted with a special modular and removable acoustic shell. The LAC is the main location for the LuganoInScena and LuganoMusica seasons as well as a home for the Compagnia Finzi Pasca and the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana and it is also involved with seasonal concerts planned by Radiotelevisione Svizzera.
Press office in Italy: ddl+battage
Alessandra de Antonellis
T +39 339 3637388 / alessandra.deantonellis@ddlstudio.net
Margherita Baleni
T +39 347 4452374 / margherita.baleni [at] battage.net
