Artissima 18

ARTISSIMA 18
Oval, Lingotto Fiere, Turin
4–6 November 2011

Preview and opening:
3 Novemberwww.artissima.it

Running 4–6 November, Artissima 18 brings together under one roof an outstanding selection of cutting-edge contemporary art galleries and an experimental curatorial programme. For the second consecutive year, the fair takes place in one single venue: the impeccable Oval pavilion. Artissima’s traditional groupings feature again: Main Section, dedicated to established galleries for whom the promotion of emerging talent is a focus; New Entries, which gathers the most interesting galleries that have been operating for less than five years; Present Future, devoted to a group of emerging artists invited by a team of international curators; and Back to the Future, which was launched in 2010 and presents artists who were active in the 1960s and 70s and whose work is of particular relevance today. Artissima is a window on to the most experimental research in the visual arts and attracts huge interest from specialists in the field, the general public and the media, having drawn 48,000 visitors and over 1,300 accredited journalists in 2010.

2011 CURATORIAL PROJECTS
This year’s cultural programme builds on the exploration of future scenarios for the museum which began in the ‘House of Contamination’ in 2010. It comprises two interlinked events: one within the fair during opening hours (titled ‘Simple Rational Approximations’), and the other outside in the evenings (‘Artissima LIDO’). The two projects examine new models and structures for the production, interpretation and dissemination of contemporary art, and, for the first time at the fair, both are curated by artists.

Simple Rational Approximations
Located at the centre of the pavilion, ‘Simple Rational Approximations’ is a project for a museum imagined by Turin-based artist Lara Favaretto in collaboration with Artissima director Francesco Manacorda. This provisional institution rethinks the modus operandi of museums of contemporary art by employing some of their traditional functions. A number of existing projects and new proposals by individuals, institutions and collectives worldwide have been selected owing to their inventive re-imagining of operational and programming methods. These include departure from the conventions of the museum, its formats and acquired lexicon, as well as disregard for the boundaries between its divisions: exhibition, collection, interpretation, production, storage, education, etc. This precarious bringing together (the Latin root of the word ‘approximation’) of diverse ideas and attitudes creates an ephemeral, nomadic and fictional organisation that exists for a mere four days within Artissima. ‘Simple Rational Approximations’ therefore embodies the paradox of a hypothesis for an institutional model; an organism intended to be solid and long-term that is built on impermanence and fragmentation.

Artissima LIDO
This year, for the first time, Artissima presents an evening programme in the centre of Turin and outside the fair’s opening hours. Several artist-run initiatives from across the Italian peninsula are temporary displaced into a number of venues around the medieval area of the Quadrilatero Romano, continuing their experimental activities in the same city simultaneously. The project draws upon and further develops a network of spaces and collectives that introduces a little known aspect of Italy and its hidden art scene. Curated by three Italian artists, Christian Frosi, Renato Leotta and Diego Perrone, ‘Artissima LIDO’ offers a dense and diverse series of exhibitions, performances, screenings, concerts, talks and publications, presented in shops, restaurants, cafés, studios and courtyards. The starting point for a wandering walk around the neighbourhood is the Artissima Social Bar: a temporary after-hours club in which art professionals and visitors to the fair can meet every evening and enjoy further performances and events.

Artissima Selection Committees

Main Section and New Entries
Daniele Balice, Galerie Balicehertling, Paris – Isabella Bortolozzi, Isabella Bortolozzi Galerie, Berlin – Mario Cristiani, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Beijing, Le Moulin – Darren Flook, Hotel, London – Casey Kaplan, Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York – Norma Mangione, Galleria Norma Mangione, Turin – Gregor Podnar, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, Ljubljana

Present Future
Luigi Fassi (co-ordinator), Art Director, ar/ge kunst Galerie Museum, Bolzano – Chris Fitzpatrick, Independent Curator, San Francisco – Christophe Gallois, Curator, MUDAM, Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg – Antonia Majaca, Art Director, Galerija Miroslav Kraljevic, Zagreb

Back to the Future
Massimiliano Gioni, Associate Director, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, and Art Director, Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milan – Christine Macel, Chief Curator of Contemporary Art, Centre Pompidou, Paris – Jessica Morgan, Daskalopoulos Curator, International Art, Tate, London

ARTISSIMA is owned by Regione Piemonte, Provincia di Torino and Città di Torino and managed by Fondazione Torino Musei. With support from: Camera di commercio di Torino, Compagnia di San Paolo and Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT.

Main Partner: UniCredit
Partners: Grey Goose, illycaffè