Strata: Italian Art since 2000—The Words of the Artists

Strata: Italian Art since 2000—The Words of the Artists is a book compiled by Vincenzo de Bellis and Alessandro Rabottini that offers a collective, interdisciplinary take on Italian visual culture through in-depth conversations with 37 artists, whose work has made a significant contribution to the Italian and international art scene in the past two decades.

Conceived as the personal account of collaborations, friendships, and professional relationships that the authors have nurtured over the past twenty years, the publication offers a polyphonic overview of Italy’s artistic output through the very medium that makes such a collective history possible: the words of the artists themselves.

The conversations explore pivotal moments in each artist’s career, blending formal, conceptual, and political concerns with biographical anecdotes, and in so doing provide an intimate look into the practices and positions of artists:

Yuri Ancarani (1972), Giorgio Andreotta Calò (1979), Francesco Arena (1978), Rosa Barba (1972), Elisabetta Benassi (1966), Luca Bertolo (1968), Rossella Biscotti (1978), Chiara Camoni (1974), Gianni Caravaggio (1968), Giulia Cenci (1988), Danilo Correale (1982), Roberto Cuoghi (1973), Enrico David(1966), Patrizio di Massimo (1983), Lara Favaretto (1973), Formafantasma (Simone Farresin, 1983 and Andrea Trimarchi, 1980), Linda Fregni Nagler (1976), Giuseppe Gabellone (1973), Martino Gamper (1971), Francesco Gennari (1973), Massimo Grimaldi (1974), Petrit Halilaj (1986), Adelita Husni Bey (1985), Giovanni Kronenberg (1974), Luisa Lambri (1969), Marcello Maloberti (1966), Diego Marcon (1985), Masbedo (Nicolò Massazza, 1973 and Iacopo Bedogni, 1971), Luca Monterastelli (1983), Adrian Paci(1969), Diego Perrone (1970), Alessandro Pessoli (1963), Paola Pivi (1971), Pietro Roccasalva (1970), Alessandro Sciarroni (1976), Marinella Senatore (1977), and Francesco Vezzoli (1971).

The book portrays several generations of artists who have emerged since the early 2000s, and encompasses an array of diverse approaches to artistic media, design, time-based media, and socio-political research, exploring each artist’s relationship with histories, traditions and influences.

The title, Strata (the Latin term that denotes the gradual concretion of multiple layers of rock) is thus deployed as a metaphor for the multiplicity of languages and sensibilities that have brought the cultural debate to life in Italy over the past two decades, and is indicative of the authors’ hope that the book may function as a tool for younger artists, allowing them to dive straight into the body of knowledge accumulated by previous generations.

Conceived in two editions, Italian and English, and co-published by Lenz and Les Presses du réel, Strata will be launched at the sites of its four cultural partners via panels involving the authors and representatives of each institution:

Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Milan: September 15
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz: October 8
Camden Art Centre, London: October 26
Fridericianum, Kassel: October 28

Strata: Italian Art since 2000. The Words of the Artists has been awarded the tenth edition of the Italian Council—the program to promote Italian contemporary art around the world by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro is the proposing entity.

Additional support has been granted by Fondazione In Between Art Film.

Strata: Italian Art since 2000
The Words of the Artists
Authors: Vincenzo de Bellis and Alessandro Rabottini
Editor-in-chief: Chiara Lupi
Editorial team: Stefania Scarpini, Bianca Stoppani
Introductory profiles: Micola Clara Brambilla, Federico Florian, Bianca Stoppani
Editorial supervision: Edoardo Bonaspetti
Graphic design: Lorenzo Mason Studio (Michele Bellinaso, Lorenzo Mason, Simone Spinazzè)
Bibliographical research assistants: Anna Castelli, Alice Orlandi
Transcriptions: Martina Ferrari, Chiara Nicoletti
Translations: Gordon Fisher
Publisher: co-published by Lenz and Les Presses du réel