CIMA Center for Italian Modern Art

...yikes! We can't decide which is the worst, can you...? https://www.artandobject.com//5-art-restoration-fails-will... via Art & Object

Beatrice Pediconi (b. Rome, 1972; lives and works in New York) is a multimedia artist whose research has, for years, been linked to an interdisciplinary practice that departs from traditional mediums in order to arrive at unprecedented formal and expressive methodologies. In 'Nude,' which signals the artist’s return to Italy after five years, presented at z2o Sara Zanin Gallery, Pediconi previews a large body of work that reflects on the principles of photography and emerges ...from its deconstruction. "These drawings are the result of a migration, and their volatile and minimal traces are the sole witnesses to a story. They represent an irreversible transformation. The process of manipulating a material that is used to impress photo paper is an operation that interrogates how our past is mediated, transformed, and often ruined. By recycling these strips of Polaroid emulsion to create drawings on paper, I explore the degradation of memory and the corruption of our past. Drawing becomes the medium to seal our inevitable losses." Her series of drawings on paper is created through an emulsion lift technique, which involves extracting strips of photographic emulsion from previously realized works. Using brushes or her own hands, the artist moves the detached emulsionwhich, at this point in the process, takes on the consistency of a thin veil of silk and then positions it on the paper in a full basin of water. Loss, mutation, fragment, trace: the works presented in this exhibition tell the story of a journey both personal and collective in which the ineffability of memory and of the past brings us back to the most essential elements. Pediconi suspends motion, occurring at a particular moment in time, in an unpredictable limbo that brings reminders from the past back to the observer in a flash. The works will be on view through March 27th at z2o Sara Zanin Gallery in Rome Pictured: Untitled Small #4, 2019 Emulsion lift on paper Cm 66x50, Untitled Small #8, 2019. Emulsion lift on paper Cm 66x50 #italianart #emulsion #womanartist

"The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) will open a new Skyspace installation by James Turrell, who is known worldwide for his monumental installations largely composed of light and sculptural elements, on May 29. The work will be part of the museum’s long-term Turrell retrospective, which traces six decades of the artist’s career and, with the addition of the Skyspace, will present a major example of every aspect of the artist’s practice." via ARTnews https://www.artnews.com//mass-moca-james-turrell-skyspace/

"On Mott Street, over 20,000 garment workers almost entirely women once marched down the center of Chinatown to Columbus Park on a warm Spring day in 1982. They donned union hats and raised picket signs to press for the renewal of their union contracts. United, immigrant Chinese American women called for workers’ rights that would forever impact U.S. labor history." https://aaww.org/chinatown-garment-strike-1982 via Asian American Writers' Workshop

"In like a lion and out like a lamb, the month of March begins with loads of new public art on display and some closing out before months end. There are installations to interact with, bring kids to, marvel over after dark, or make a pit stop at on your way out of town." via Untapped New York https://untappedcities.com//art-installations-nyc-march-2/

"And here’s where Di Modica’s story goes from plucky to over-the-top berserk." via Curbed https://www.curbed.com//arturo-di-modica-54-crosby-street-

Each day this week we will be highlighting one of CIMA's staff picks from our holiday gift guide (for last minute shoppers!).. Today's highlight: Giulia Nicita, Membership & Communications Manager... Of course at the top of my holiday gift list is a CIMA membership! Call me biased, but we really offer the best deal in town With dedicated members-only invites to events, exhibition previews, private viewing hours at CIMA, and free curator-led visits to partner institutions in NYC, this is a gift that keeps on giving. Whether you get one for yourself, a partner, friend, or family member, you can’t go wrong. The recipient will have a tangible mementoCIMA’s beautiful annual exhibition cataloguebut, more importantly, the privilege of reservation-based private access to CIMA, a chance to support young scholars’ research, and the opportunity to join in-depth, inspiring conversations about Italian modern art. Priceless! To get or gift a CIMA membership: https://www.italianmodernart.org/membership/ #italianmodernart #CIMAnyc #giftguide #holidays

2021 is around the corner, and the colors have been selected! Next time you come to CIMA for an espresso we’ll be sure to have the tazzina di caffè in the hue you prefer. The union of an enduring Ultimate Gray with the vibrant yellow Illuminating expresses a message of positivity supported by fortitude. Practical and rock solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, this is a color combination that gives us resilience and hope. We need to feel encouraged and uplifted; ...this is essential to the human spirit. Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute For over 20 years, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home furnishings, and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design. The Pantone Color of the Year selection process requires thoughtful consideration and trend analysis. To arrive at the selection each year, Pantone’s color experts at Pantone Color Institute comb the world looking for new color influences. This can include the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections and new artists, fashion, all areas of design, popular travel destinations, as well as new lifestyles, playstyles, and socio-economic conditions. Influences may also stem from new technologies, materials, textures, and effects that impact color, relevant social media platforms and even upcoming sporting events that capture worldwide attention. #coloroftheyear #pantone #caffe

CIMA is thrilled to announce two new staff members!

Born in Verona in 1905 #onthisday, Renato Birolli was part of a family of industrial workers. In 1923 he moved to Milan. Here he formed an avant-guardist group with other artists including as Renato Guttuso, Giacomo Manzù and Aligi Sassu. In 1937 he joined the artistic movement called 'Corrente di Vita,' then, in the same year, he was arrested by the Fascist government. Subsequently, he largely left his painterly activity to devote himself to Communist propaganda and, later, ...to lend his efforts to support the Italian partisan resistance. After World War II, in 1947, Birolli moved to Paris. Here his painting style changed swiftly under the influences of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, moving first to a post-Cubist style, and then to a somewhat abstract expression of moods and ideas. He died suddenly back in Milan in 1959. Pictured: 'Miss Smith' 1938, (Private Collection) Oil on canvas; 100 x 120 cm. #happybirthday #RenatoBirolli #Italianmodernart #CIMAnyc

For our followers in Rome, tomorrow is the last day to view Ugo Rondinone's NUNS + MONKS at Sant'Andrea De Scaphis, don't miss this opportunity! https://www.romegallerytours.com/ugo-rondinone-gbe-santand/

10 days left to see Luigi Ghirri: "The Idea of Building" currently on view (through December 19th) at Matthew Marks in NYC. Organized by the artist Matt Connors, the exhibition features twenty-nine vintage prints, as well as a selection of books and ephemera from Ghirri’s personal archive. The works on view, which span Ghirri’s career, highlight the photographer’s mission to conflate and confuse the physical world with the world of the image. The exhibition title comes from ...a text by Paola Ghirri, the photographer’s widow, describing Ghirri’s fascination with hand-built objects. This fascination shaped not only his approach to printing each print is unique but also the subjects he sought out and the way he composed them in pictures. Ghirri’s photographs, with their flattened, interlocking elements, feel not so much observed as assembled. Many people, he wrote, have mistaken these photographs for photomontages. In keeping with Ghirri’s conceptual approach to photography, he rarely made more than one print of an image. The works in the exhibition, which include well-known photographs and others never shown before, capture different aspects of what he called the colossal photomontage that surrounds us. Pictured: 'Reggio Emilia,' 1984 From the series 'Paesaggio italiano' Vintage Cibachrome print 9 14 inches; 24 36 cm

Today at 1PM EST, a digital event organized by The Brooklyn Rail https://brooklynrail.org//blake-gopnik-with-amanda-gluibiz Critic and author Blake Gopnik will be in conversation with Rail ArtSeen Editor Amanda Gluibizzi on Andy Warhol. It will conclude with a poetry reading from Sharon Mesmer.

For her Graveyard for Political Signs artist Nina Katchadourian has enlisted first-time voters to plant lawn signs in her ongoing project, which started in 2008. via artnet... https://news.artnet.com//nina-katchadourian-monument-elect

Italian artist Giulio Paolini’s installations are deeply rooted in art history from the Renaissance to today with plaster casts of classical sculptures to reproductions of iconic paintings by Chardin, Lotto and Velázquez. Born on this day in 1940, he is a leading figure in Conceptual Art and came to prominence as part of a generation of Italian artists including Michelangelo Pistoletto and Mario Merz. His belief that a work of art is not just itself in the ‘here and now’ ...but also the record of earlier traditions, has led him to investigate art’s relation to the past. Driven by an exploration into the nature of images, the making of art and the role of the artist, Paolini asserts that ‘to be authentic, a work of art must forget about its author.’ The main characteristics of his artistic expression include citation, duplication and fragmentation, which are used as expedients for staging the distance between a finished model for making the work a 'theatre of evocation.' He currently lives and works in Turin, Italy. Pictured: Giulio Paolini Immacolata Concezione. Senza Titolo / Senza Autore (Immaculate Conception. Without Title / Without Author) 2007 - 08 Mirrored Plexiglas platform, transparent Plexiglas volumes, Plexiglas sheets and fragments, Plexiglas sheet with engraved drawing, crystal sphere, photo enlargement 201 x 256 x 257 cm / 79 1/8 x 100 5/8 x 101 1/4 in.

Today at 4pm EST, an online event courtesy of Centro Primo Levi Ian Thomson in conversation with Alison Cornish and Federica Anichini for "DEBT AND DAMNATION: ISLAM IN DANTE" Ian Thomson shows how the author of The Divine Comedy, having been exposed to the cultural Arabia of the Mediterranean, was broad-minded enough to see in Islam more than just schism, jihad or a clash between ‘Western Civilization’ and ‘Islamic Civilization.’... For more details and to register (by 3PM EST) click here: https://primolevicenter.org//debt-and-damnation-islam-in-/

"Always speak out and keep forging ahead. The man who cannot find a new person within himself is not a man." Amedeo Modigliani From September 2017 to February 2018 the The Jewish Museum presented an exhibition of early drawings by Amedeo Modiglianimany of which were shown for the first time in the United States. ... Acquired directly from the artist by Dr. Paul Alexandre, his close friend and first patron, these works illuminated Modigliani's heritage as an Italian Sephardic Jew as pivotal to understanding his artistic output. 'Modigliani Unmasked' considered the celebrated artist (Italian, 1884-1920) shortly after he arrived in Paris in 1906, when the city was still roiling with anti-Semitism after the long-running tumult of the Dreyfus Affair and the influx of foreign emigres. The exhibition put a spotlight on Modigliani’s drawings, and showed that his art cannot be fully understood without acknowledging the ways he responded to the social realities confronted in the artistic melting pot of Paris. Pictured: Kneeling Caryatid, 1911-12. Black crayon on paper. 16 x 10 in. Paul Alexandre Family, courtesy of Richard Nathanson, London. Image provided by Richard Nathanson, photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates, London

Today at 3pm EST: For the fourth episode of the series Until Further Notice, Maurita Cardone will have the pleasure to interview two prominent Italian artists who have brought into their works different representations of collective celebratory moments, Marinella Senatore and Federico Solmi. The talk will be an opportunity to discuss the effects of the pandemic on their work, the current state of the art world and how artists can reflect the turbulent times we are living in. ... Please join the Italian Cultural Institute New York on Thursday, for the latest installment of this series of Zoom interviews with Italian artists, curators and gallerists living and working on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Istituto Italiano Di Cultura More details here: https://iicnewyork.esteri.it//until-further-notice-webinar

We are pleased to share an online event on Italian design happening tomorrow, Thursday November 6 at 11:30am EST "Celebrate the best of Italian design in this online tribute to trendsetting artists and trailblazers. Silvia BarisioneGenoa native and former curator at The Wolfsonianais participating in a panel of esteemed colleagues from Europe and Miami. Lend your lunch hour to pay homage to greats like Gio Ponti and discover how Italian makers have shaped taste and style... throughout history." Keynote: Professor Alba Cappellieri, Politecnico di Milano Moderator: Professor Mario Braghieri, Istituto Marangoni, Miami Italian Consulate: Consul General Cristiano Musillo Speakers: Silvia Barisione, Wolfsonian Chief Curator; Massimo Casagrande, Istituto Marangoni; and Giovanna Talocci, Designer Free and open to all The Wolfsonian-FIU Registration here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creativity-craftsmanship-innov

This video reports our fall 2020 fellow's visit to Frigolandia. In the video she shows the archive, the exhibition pavillion, original drawings, paintings, photographs, and prints, and Frigidaire's newsroom. When Carlotta was there she mainly worked on Frigidaire's issues featuring Schifano's polaroids and interviews. She interviewed Vincenzo Sparagna about Frigidaire's collaboration with Schifano, and parts of his responses are featured in the video. Carlotta was also able ...to consult Frigolandia's collection of original polaroids, including Mario Schifano's published and unreleased pictures, as well as work by Stefano Tamburini and other photographers. Transcript: in some way it was a point of post-ideological observation. Radically post-ideological, on the mutations of the contemporary world. This consciousness of living in an unending expanse of commercial goods, as the opening of Marx’s ‘Capital’ said. But conscious of being ourselves a commercial good, that is a magazine that is meant to be sold, we have a price. So therefore in some way, it is a critique of this endless expanse of goods for sale, but also, let’s say, a consciousness that conveys the idea that we are not outside, there is no illusion that we have escaped it, we are absolutely part of it. Together with these images and with this comic by Andrea, and my editorial, we have these four polaroids by the dear Mario Schifano, a great artist, as you know, who never tired of experimenting with new forms of communication and these are polaroids that he shot of videos, and fragments, seen in the night time programs which Schifano spent hours and hours watching in his house near Piazza Navona. He was very sympathetic with our project, which we explained we were about to start this magazine, and the idea behind it, his voice was a bit nasal and he would say Yes, yes certainly, yea, yea, yea, wow interesting, I took these polaroids, I don’t know whether they might interest you, look and see I sit in front of my television, I take polaroids because I see these subjects appearing and disappearing, anyway, I stare at this uninterrupted flow of things But he photographed everything, he really shot polaroids of all the most absurd programs one could imagine. And so I am a bit of ahow can I put ita helmsman, a guide for this strange ghost vessel, that exists, but could not exist, that is here, but could be elsewhere.

"A new exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) Boston demystifies the image of Basquiat as a lone wolf, instead demonstrating how he honed his artistic sensibilities within a milieu of creative, boundary-breaking young peers on the forefront of hip-hop culture." via Smithsonian Magazine Museum of Fine Arts, Boston... https://www.smithsonianmag.com//how-basquiat-and-his-peer/

"Come next June, an exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields will emulate the experience of viewing Van Gogh's Starry Night firsthand by transforming the 1889 work and other masterpieces into a three-dimensional world that guests can explore through all their senses, according to a statement. Titled The Lume, the permanent installation will use 150 digital projectors to reflect nearly 3,000 images of the Dutch artist’s paintings onto the walls, ceilings ...and floors of the museum’s fourth-floor galleries." via Smithsonian Magazine https://www.smithsonianmag.com//new-van-gogh-exhibition-l/

In the 1963 film "Gli onorevoli", a comedy directed by Sergio Corbucci, several stories related to the elections of politicians in Italy in the sixties are intertwined: a senior sharpshooter decides to run as a candidate, an entrepreneur gives a speech to voters on a television program, a career woman decides to get into politics, but falls in love with one of her competitors, a communist is deceived in a campaign speech by an enemy infiltrator. The storyline featuring Totò i...s undoubtedly the most important. He is the famous Antonio La Trippa, proposing in his own apartment building in Rome a political program as conservative and 'reformist,' with his background in military service. Of course in his neighborhood and much more in his city no one understands the reformist intentions. Every morning very early Antonio, posturing as if he were stationed in military barracks, says good morning while playing a trumpet, and then announces with a megaphone out a window propaganda slogans about his political program, including the famous and parodied "Vota Antonio!" On this election day in the U.S. we encourage everyone who can and has not yet, to go out and vote!! Pictured: The film poster for "Gli Onorevoli" (1963) and the scene in which Totò uses his megaphone to proclaim Antonio La Trippa's slogans.

"Amid a socially distanced world, the creative powerhouse that is Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, better known as OSGEMEOS, managed to open a large presentation in Seoul, a solo show in New York, and, after a six month delay, are currently enjoying, a museum exhibition in their hometown at the Pinacoteca de Sao Paulo through February 22nd, 2021." Read more here: https://www.juxtapoz.com//osgemeos-reveal-their-secrets-i/... via Juxtapoz Magazine

"The Plastic Bag Store’s opening coincides with the reinstatement of New York’s plastic bag ban on October 19, 2020 - several months after it was paused due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A public art installation and immersive film by artist and director Robin Frohardt the Plastic Bag Store employs humor, craft, and a critical lens to unmask our culture of consumption and convenience specifically, the enduring effects of our single-use plastics." http://arts.timessquarenyc.org//the-plastic-bag/index.aspx

"As a second wave of coronavirus cases surge in Europe, cultural institutions in Germany and France once again face the possibility of extended closures. On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a new round of restrictions on public spaces in their respective countries that led to the shuttering of some major institutions." via ARTnews https://www.artnews.com//germany-france-museums-coronaivr/