WHEN IN ROME
THIRTY WORKS OF ART BETWEEN NOW AND THEN
IIC, Hammer Museum and LaxArt, Los Angeles, CA
April 20–May 21 2011
www.departfoundation.com
wir.departfoundation.com
AMENHAMMERAMENO. A performance by Luigi Ontani at the Hammer Museum
April 20 6.30PM
Opening of the show at IIC
Curated by Luca Lo Pinto
in collaboration with Valerio Mannucci
Coordination: Damiana Leoni
Elisabetta Benassi – Manfredi Beninati – Alighiero Boetti – Carola Bonfili – Gino De Dominicis – Stanislao di Giugno – Rä di Martino – Francesco Lo Savio – Emiliano Maggi – Michele Manfellotto – Fabio Mauri – Matteo Nasini – Caterina Nelli – Luigi Ontani – Nicola Pecoraro – Alessandro Piangiamore – Cesare Pietroiusti – Giuseppe Pietroniro – Emilio Prini – Marco Raparelli – Pietro Ruffo – Andrea Salvino – Corrado Sassi – Valentino Diego
After New York Minute – 60 Artists on the New York Scene, DEPART Foundation, with the support of the Provincia di Roma, presents When in Rome in Los Angeles.
When in Rome presents for the first time in a group show the work of some of the most interesting artists associated with the city of Rome and its environs. Through painting, installation, conceptual art, pop culture, performance, cinema and music, the project aims to read the works in their own individuality, in a strongly suggestive display. The works will, in fact, be exhibited within a stage, a real-life environment.
The show is structured in three levels: an exhibition component at the IIC, a special project at the Hammer Museum and a site-specific collaboration with LaxArt.
The title originates from the appropriation of the English-language proverb “when in rome, do as the romans do”, a universal formula which highlights the necessity to adapt to local customs when one finds oneself in a geographic, social or cultural context different from one’s own. The main purpose of the exhibition is, in fact, to present works of art and artists from Rome in a city like Los Angeles, keeping in mind not so much the specific or typical peculiarities of this city as much as the cultural and aesthetic prerogatives that make up the background for the reception and fruition of the show itself.
The common risk for shows of this kind is that of wanting to define, almost always with no real basis, a more or less evident local and cultural quality that connects the artists, artworks and geographical context.
When in Rome aims, instead, to reflect on the individuals and the artworks themselves. To widen the cultural frame of reference, the exhibit also presents works by some artists from preceding generations. Historic artists such as Alighiero Boetti, Gino De Dominicis, Francesco Lo Savio, Fabio Mauri, Luigi Ontani and Emilio Prini constitute an essential key to reading the exhibit, producing a second interpretive level.
In occasion of the exhibition, Luigi Ontani—one of the most influential and remarkable Italian artists working today—will conceive of a new performance titled AmenHammerAmeno in collaboration with the Hammer Museum.
Rä di Martino will conceive a site specific project for a billboard in collaboration with LaxArt.
Integral to the show is a series of screenings in film, video and documentary form that directly describe the city of Rome and its environs or deepen the dialogue of some of the artists presented in the show.
Thursday 21 April: Roma by Federico Fellini
Thursday 28 April: Amore Tossico by Claudio Caligari
Thursday 5 May: Terra di Mezzo by Matteo Garrone
Thursday 12 May: Giravolte by Carola Spadoni
Thursday 19 May: Niente da vedere, niente da nascondere by Emidio Greco
