#backtoitaly

14th edition12-15 October 2018

“Our life is a work of art. To live as required by the art of life we must - like any artist, whatever his art - set difficult challenges. We must grope for the impossible”.

Zygmunt Bauman The Art of Life, 2009

Utopia

www.artverona.it@artverona

Presentation2018

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Index

Contents 03 — Fair05 — Data 06 — Theme11 — Sections 14 — Events 15 — Collecting17 — VIP programme18 — Prizes22 — Cities27 — Art and Business28 — Communication30 — Colophon

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Fair

The trade show that promotesthe italian art system and opens the market season

ArtVerona, the modern and contemporary art fair, will hold its fourteenth edition from 12 to 15 October, 2018. An authoritative point of reference in the world of contemporary art and in the European fair sector, ArtVerona is a compact and accomplished event that is attractive for its location, the quality of its offering and its relational vocation. Nomen omen. And with a “slow” approach, inclined towards research and experimentation.

Under the guidance of Adriana Polveroni, in this art director’s second year in office, ArtVerona is consolidating its commitment to continuity and innovation.

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Fair

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Key Figures

23.000 Visitors

220.000 Eurosthe value of the art works purchased and of the prizes awarded

170 Exhibitors > galleries,independent spaces, publishers

480 Hosted collectors

1150 Participating artists

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Section

Utopia“Our life is a work of art. To live as required by the art of life we must - like any artist, whatever his art - set difficult challenges. We must grope for the impossible”. Zygmunt BaumanThe Art of Life, 2009

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Theme

Utopia Utopia is the theme of the 14th edition of ArtVerona.

In a world unsettled by continuous geopolitical tension, in an art market often dominated by speculation, a date like 2018, 50 years after 1968 and just a little more than one century away from Surrealism, pushes our gaze beyond the immediate horizon, to consider a work of art not just as an economic investment but as an opportunity for personal enrichment, knowledge of the world, and new values and relations, and an art fair

as an opportunity for growth and dialogue for the artist, for the collector, for the gallery manager and even for society. ArtVerona, committed to scouting and to promoting Italian art since its inception, welcomes “Utopia” as a horizon for reflection, and undertakes to promote it even beyond its borders to find the credit, interest and space it deserves.

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Theme

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Section

Research and innovation.The constant dialogue betweenmodern and contemporary

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Sections

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The exhibition sections

→ Main SectionThis is the pulsing artery of the fair, involving both pavilions and including both long-standing and younger galleries sharing a qualified focus on Italian artists. Not only hose acclaimed by critics and collectors, who have recently performed very well in the large international auctions, but also mid-career artists – a precious and not yet fully tapped resource – and emerging artists as well. → BoMA Best of Modern ArtIn sailing, the ‘Boma’ (boom in English) is a fundamental component of the mainsail, to which other devices can be connected for the control of other sails. By cherishing the symbolical value of structural component, ArtVerona BoMA – the novelty of this year’s edition – translates into a meticulous selection of modern art, a sector that is increasingly gaining acclaim and attention.

145 galleries will be selected (participation proposals must be sent in by 10 May 2018), to better define the specific features of the two pavilions: one centred on the historically contextualised post-World War 2 artists and the other presenting latest generation artists engaged in research and experimentation

A fair like ArtVerona, that dedicates half of its space to 20th century art, cannot neglect this sector. The aim is to create a high level section, curated by Silvia Evangelisti, in which the best Italian and foreign galleries can converge with proposals and specific focus on confirmed artists. → Grand Tour“#backtoitaly” remains the event’s payoff. Italy has always been a source of inspiration for artists. #backtoItaly also hint at foreign entities present in Italy and interested in Italian artists, and at Italian gallerists living abroad who are “coming back” to Italy. This is the concept behind the Grand Tour area, where this focus on Italian art is illustrated with artworks by Italian artists or by other references to Italy’s art scene.

Sections

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→ Focus on With a view to internationalizing the Fair in the direction of North-Eastern Europe, the focus is on a selection of the most interesting research galleries of a foreign country, this year Lithuania.

→ Raw ZoneThis confirms the aim of giving visibility to 8 research galleries, also capable of putting to qualified use a “raw” essential space dedicated to a single artist. Thanks to its open layout, Raw Zone fosters a direct and more informal rapport with the public - a winning strategy for many young galleries participating since the first edition.

→ ScoutingThis section is a natural follow-up to the Raw Zone, featuring an enhanced display and design xperience (hosting no more than two or three artists). A meeting place for 16 experimental galleries, that are expected to advance proposals creating suggestions and fostering the circulation of new ideas. → i9 - Independent SpacesNow at its 9th edition and curated by Cristiano Seganfreddo, this fair section gratuitously hosts 14 entities, including non-profit and collectors’ associations operating with the languages of contemporary art, selected by means of a contest launched by the media partner Artribune. As of last year, it is flanked by the MAXXI for the THE INDEPENDENT platform, which offers the winner the opportunity to work with the Museum.

The exhibition sections

Sections

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Events

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Events

→ ArtVeronaTalkA space for debate curated by Paola Tognon that, with an eye on Italian art, can act as venue for the updating and furthering of the research on and valorization of contemporary art experiences. → ArtVeronaYoungSection dedicated to the first approach to contemporary art by younger children - aged 4 to 12 – in cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts of Verona.

→ Critical CollectingA format created and curated by Antonio Grulli. It involves ten young independent art critics who are to compose a piece that analyses the collection or the collection method of ten collectors, with special attention paid to the Italian market. This is an attempt to bring back to center stage the art critic, a figure that is essential for the correct

and healthy operation of the world of art and that has been too often set aside in recent years by prevailing curatorial practices.

→ Free StageStemming from an idea by Adriana Polveroni, this is an exhibition project for young artists not promoted by any gallery but rather presented by artists of the previous generation, in a close dialogue between them, not mediated by curatorial figures. All this in response to the need felt by many artists of restoring their central role and of experiencing a direct exchange not liaised by the system. Tutor and mentor for 2018: Adrian Paci.

Research events and formatsExperimental curatorial and talent scouting projects

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Designing projects for galleries

→ Collezionismo al centroMeetup opportunities and exhibition and publishing projects focusing on collectors. With the contribution of Antonio Grulli. → PHOTOgrafia (PHOTOgraphy)The medium through which more and more people are approaching the world of art today and a focus of interest for even the most structured collectors. Albeit without opening a dedicated section, galleries are encouraged to exhibit a selected choice of photographs in their stands. It’s like a sort of undercurrent flowing beneath the surface of ArtVerona – exactly like photography itself flows through current art production – and for which a special prize has been created. → Io, l’opera e tu (I, the Artwork and You)As an evolution of the “atupertu” format, “Io, l’opera e tu” offers the public the opportunity to meet up with the artists exhibited at the fair, in their respective

galleries. The starting point is a specific work of art, capable of “speaking to the public” also through the words of the artist and of the curator. The artists / artworks must be shortlisted by 20 July. The calendar of meetings is defined by mid-September. → Primo Amore (First love)A platform that aims at directing the public towards high-quality artworks with affordable price tags, i.e. within 5,000 euros, to kindle the interest of new collectors. A further incentive for grassroots collectors with limited financial resources, guided towards works capable of igniting that spark of “first love”. Low cost but precious works, authentic “gems”.

Collecting

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Collecting

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VIPprogramme

ArtVerona undertakes, year after year, to set up an attractive VIP Programme for a large number of collectors invited by the galleries, the artistic management and the curators (480 guests in 2017, and a larger number is expected in 2018) , with exclusive or informal events outside the fair hours.

Collectors are an essential segment for the fair’s success and, therefore, they must be strongly motivated to attend and must have the necessary time to appreciate what’s on offer Today, the need is felt to renew the profile of the collector. ArtVerona is committed to contributing to this redefinition, as a reference point for newer and younger forms of collecting, along the lines of the Open Source project, which aims at diversifying the profile of the collector An important encouragement in this direction comes from the Consorzio Collezionisti delle Pianure, an expression of the varied and complex entrepreneur base that has established the excellence

and success of the Made in Italy tradition in north-eastern Italy. This experience can give rise to a virtuous circle between culture and economy, two worlds that – although closer than ever before – still need to collaborate more.

Convinced that one of the main competitive advantages of our country lays in the virtuous relationship between its socio/cultural fabric and its innovative/entrepreneurial system, ArtVerona has engaged in the concrete contamination of these two worlds, attracting collectors to its VIP Programme and promoting initiatives of interest to professionals and entrepreneurs. Among these, a road show organised in several of Italy’s major cities, such as Bologna, Rome, Naples: the opportunity for informal meetings aimed at building loyalty in collectors from other cities and at approaching new ones. Collectors and gallery managers shall then be hosted in a villa in Valpolicella in September, for an event presentation day.

VIP programme

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Prizes

AcquisitionsCompetitionsPrizesAs an active stakeholder in the art system, ArtVerona has confirmed a far-reaching programme of acquisitions, competitions and awards aimed at supporting the various actors in the network.

Prizes confirmed: Premio Display, Premio Fotografia under 40, Premio Icona, Premio i9 | Spazi Indipendenti, Sustainable Art Prize.New prizes: Premio WidiCollect (WIse - DIalog- COllecting) promoted by Banca Widiba bank and dedicated to the energy and potentiality of the technological and relational components of art.

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→ Level 0An opportunity for contact between the artist, the gallery representing him/her and an Italian museum, with the aim of creating a project that exalts and gives visibility to the selected artist. In 2017, 10 museum directors participated:‘Luigi Pecci’ Contemporary Art Center of PratoCivic Gallery of Modena‘Achille Forti’ Modern Art Gallery of VeronaNational Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery of RomeKunst Merano Arte of MeranoMart of Trento and RoveretoMuseion of BolzanoCivic Museum of BassanoMuseo del Novecento of MilanPalazzo Ducale of Mantova

→ Premio DisplayAwarded to the two galleries, one for each pavilion, deemed to have displayed artists and works in its space in the most coherent and innovative manner. President of the Panel is Patrizia Moroso, an entrepreneur who has made research and attention to detail her signature approach at international level. The prize consists in a 2000 euros discount on the galleries’ ArtVerona 2019 enrolment fee. → Premio Fotografia under 405,000 euros for the purchase at the Fair of a work by an under-40 artist. The prize, sponsored by the entrepreneur Riccardo Aichner, aims at supporting research in contemporary photography, at promoting its topicality and value, and at reinforcing the interest of a more articulated collectorship.

Prizes

AcquisitionsCompetitionsPrizes

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→ Premio IconaThe acquisition of a work that symbolically represents the Fair and its being an event that promotes the Italian art system and that contributes in defining the outline of today’s contemporary art scenario. The aim of the Contest is to acknowledge the professionalism of the exhibiting galleries, that are the soul and expression of the Fair.

→ Sustainable Art PrizeA contest organised by the ‘Ca’ Foscari’ University of Venice in cooperation with ArtVerona, that in 2017 identified the Fair’s best art project encompassing the sustainable development theme. The project has been supported in its realization and will be inaugurated during the event.

→ Premio WidiCollect (WIse - DIalog- COllecting)Launched by Fabio Agovino, a collector and personal financial advisor of Banca Widiba bank, the prize consists in the purchase at ArtVerona 2018 of a work that, by embracing the Widiba’s modus operandi, expresses the energy and potentiality of the technological and relational components of art.

Prizes

AcquisitionsCompetitionsPrizes

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Prizes

Flavio Favelli, Extra Profondo Oro, 2017,Premio Icona 2017,Work presented by Studio Sales, Rome

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A huge programme of events about town

Art & the City is the programme organised outside the fair, with exhibitions and events that, by involving the historical sites that have made Verona world-famous, reveal this city’s most hidden and unexpected spots.

MY BODY IN TIME. Lüthi, Ontani Opalka, GAM A. Forti Palazzo della Ragione, Veronacurators: Adriana Polveroni and Patrizia Nuzzo

The City

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The City

Videos, installations, paintings, photographs coming from galleries, private collections, foundations and museums, to interpret the ‘Utopia’ theme, with a projection into the future. Usually, the term ‘Utopia’ indicates the gap between a thought, a dream and its enactment. It expresses something that is chimerical.

This exhibition intends to help the term ‘Utopia’ regain its conceptual vigour, as the energy capable of making the impossible possible. Utopia does not have a chimeric soul, but is rooted into a present time that is continuously shifting and draws its boundaries. It comes in where the mind stops at mere data, no longer capable of prefiguring further connections, new horizons to be discovered and travelled.“Stay hungry! Stay foolish” was the advice given by Steve Jobs to a roomful of college graduates. We can only cultivate Utopia as the horizon of our actions by being somewhat hungry and somewhat foolish. From this viewpoint, Utopia is contiguous to the idea of project, when with this term we intend what

is still to be accomplished, what holds within itself the auroral power of what has yet to happen, a commitment to achieving the goal in the best way possible with a continuous forward shift of the mind and of the order of what is factual. Precisely because it is set in a design-based context that, as such, cannot be guaranteed, Utopia also infers a risk, the possibility of failure, the awareness of risk itself. This semantic constellation renders the term ‘Utopia’ much less unrealistic (and rhetorical) and much more aware, much more keen on reality, without relinquishing its intent of changing it.The pertinence of this theme resides in the historical anniversaries: 50 years after 1968, just one century after the birth of Surrealism. These dates, however, are just a background, a cue if you will, because thought must always turn towards the present and the future. It is only by substantiating the past with the fertile thought that looks forwards that we can celebrate what is behind us.

Exhibition period:october 2018 - january 2019

Utopia

An exhibition at the AMO Museum of Verona that sees the involvement of a curators’ collective coordinated by Adriana Polveroni and Gabriele Tosi

THE ARTISTSThese are the first artists selected: Bas Jan Ader, Joseph Beuys, Maurizio Cattelan, Cristian Chironi, Gino de Domicis, Lara Favaretto, Karsten Hoeller, Maria Lai, Pino Pascali, Gianni Pettena, Paola Pivi, Pipilotti Rist, Marinella Senatore, Wael Shawky, Vedovamazzei.

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The City

Hidetoshi Nagasawa is not just this legendary figure. He is also a great artist capable, like few others, of intervening in space with potency and lightness at the same time, defying the laws of gravity with apparently impossible equilibria, capable of blending the geometrical power of his installations with the natural beauty of the landscape. He is capable of dialoguing wisely with the past, as witnessed by the many Italian historical sites that have experienced his artistic action.

Within the scope of the exhibition projects, the Italian vocation of ArtVerona can express itself to the utmost with a section dedicated to Nagasawa. Nagasawa’s powerful, energetic work merges well with several qualitative characteristics of Verona. The vigour of his installations and the creation of severe and yet virtuous environments dialogue well with the ancient and solemn beauty of the city where several of Nagasawa’s installations are perfectly inserted into some outdoor and some indoor locations. The plan is to create an itinerary through the city, perhaps starting at the Fair

with a ‘sign’ (a video-interview or a large-sized portrait initiating the external itinerary), ideally reconnecting the city, its civic museums and its best artistic sites with the Fair, and vice versa.The actual itinerary will cross through the city and will consist of 5 or 6 stations located in highly significant and especially beautiful locations, worthy of hosting the great artist, such as the courtyard of the Museo di Castelvecchio, the Garden of the Museo Maffeiano, Juliet’s tomb, the San Giorgetto church, the Roman Theatre, for example, or others to be defined.The works shall be of very high quality and suited to the locations, capable of not being overshadowed by the imposing surroundings.The sense of the project is the virtuous meeting between the great artist, who chose Italy to be his new homeland, and a beautiful city that is all to be discovered, beyond its more famous tourist attractions.

Exhibition period:opens 12 october 2018 (with the opening of ArtVerona), and closes 7 january 2019(to be defined)

Hidetoshi Nagasawa in VeronaAugust 1967, Hidetoshi Nagasawa, barely 27 years old, arrives in Milan. Behind him, almost a year and a half of travel from his native land, Manchuria, through the Orient to Greece and then on a ferry boat to Brindisi, Italy, and up to Milan. Thousands of kilometers covered on his bicycle. And he doesn’t go back because, in August 1967 in Milan, they steal his bicycle. He stops in Milan and decides to continue the artistic work he had recently started in Japan. And he will never leave that city again.

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The City

Hidetoshi Nagasawa in Verona

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The City

Today, the world has ‘discovered’ the suburbs and has tried to listen to their reality, and even the MIBACT has created a general Management for Contemporary Art and Architecture and Urban Suburbs.It is not something extra, ethnic, curious and marginal. Human and social regeneration is one of the axes of development. Art4Social. Not in the name of beautification but of empowerment and of enhancement of the differences.

With Festival Veronetta, now at its 3rd edition, the intention is to contaminate one of the city’s most characteristic, authentic and vivacious historical districts with a diffusive and complex participative project that envisages: contemporary art interventions for The Third Night of Calm, curated by Christian Caliandro; concerts,

live sessions, DJ electronic music sets for the 5th edition of the Path Festival, curated by Morse; contemporary theatre shows and performances for the Are We Human review promoted by the Centro di Produzione Teatro Nuovo di Verona, in cooperation with the cultural association EXP.

Under evaluation is also the festival’s extension to food and wine events, such as Hostaria, for example.

FestivalVeronettaArtVerona is the only Fair that holds a festival in a ‘peripheral district’, intended not in a geographical sense but as symbolical otherness with respect to the more famous downtown centre.

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Art and Business

Art and BusinessIn the belief that the creative component plays a central role in the competitive development of Italy in a beneficial cross-fertilization between the social and cultural fabric and the business world, ArtVerona for years has been involved in diversified actions in this direction.

Among these, it has become the partner of the Premio CULTURA + IMPRESA prize, the most important benchmarking initiative in Italy, mainly focused on Business Culture and Communication. In addition to launching a sensitization action with the enterprises exhibiting at Vinitaly and Marmomac, it has curated the realization by the artist Jago of the prize to be assigned to the 2018 edition winners, in collaboration with Antolini, a leader in the stone sector worldwide.

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Communication

→ Visual IdentityThe new visual identity consists in a new logo, a new symbol that will evolve through future editions. The result is a new advertising format that will be applicable to all of the collateral events. This should further strengthen the change in pace of the Fair. It will also include a new website, the online meeting place for public, artists, gallery managers and the city, a storytelling platform that, in synergy with social activities, will make the digital experience stronger and contemporary.

→ PR activitiesPromotion of the Fair at the main events of the sector, and not just the market, with special focus on the Italian system:Arte Fiera Bologna (February)The Armory Show New York (March)Miart and Milano Art Week (April)Frieze New York (May)Art Basel (June)Manifesta Palermo (June)Frieze London (October)

Fiac Parigi (October)Artissima Torino (November)

Relations with the players of the art system thanks to the constant presence in the places linked to contemporaneity, with Milan as the main hub, and then Rome. Specific attention also paid to two locations that symbolise the contemporary and international rediscovery of the Italian heritage, such as Matera (the 2019 European Capital of Culture) and Palermo (the 2018 Capital of Culture and the location of Manifesta).

Focusing on Italy and its creative excellence, the intention is to also expand relations to other sectors that are linked to contemporaneity, such as fashion, design and innovation. The opportunities for proximity are, in this case, the Salone del Mobile, the Biennale for Architecture, the Fashion Weeks and the events linked to the Premio Gaetano Marzotto prize.

CommunicationThe Agenzia del Contemporaneo, the creative cell guided by Cristiano Seganfreddo and Alessio Avventuroso, with headquarters in Milan and involved in projects that are linked to the worlds of fashion, innovation, art, publishing and design, has been assigned the restyling of ArtVerona’s visual identity and codes of communication, as well as of the communication and PR activity and the relations with the media .

The aim is to reinforce the brand and its positioning and to attract new publics of reference and transversal to the sector.

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Communication

Communication → Social CommunicationWe live our lives hyper-connected. ArtVerona physically lasts three days.It must become a producer of social content throughout the year, creating veritable engagement with the publics of reference.

With this 14th edition, the Fair intends to reinforce and consolidate its positioning also via a plan aimed at, and a focus on, the social channels. Dedicated content will be developed and curated to support communication.The Instagram channel will be favoured because it is a platform that champions images, coherent with the targeted public.

→ AdvertisingThe media plan follows and coherently accompanies the objectives of the media relations, privileging the publications that cover the identified position, namely:

ARTFORUM INTERNATIONALARTE CAIRO EDITOREARTE E CRITICAARTRIBUNEATPdiaryCURAESPOARTEEXIBARTFLASH ARTIL GIORNALE DELL’ARTEMOUSSENERORADIO 24RADIO 3RIVISTA SEGNOSPECIALE SOLE24 ORE

Chairman Veronafiere: Maurizio DaneseGeneral Director Veronafiere: Giovanni MantovaniManager Area Stone & Design: Elena AmadiniProject manager: Sara BenedettiArt Director: Adriana PolveroniVIP Relations: Anna Maria Vigilante con Antonio GrulliCollateral management: Valeria Merighi / Agenzia del ContemporaneoMarketing and Events: Monica ScappiniCommunications: Maria MarinelliWeb Marketing: Marianna BozzolaHead of Veronafiere Press Office: Carlo Alberto DelainiArtVerona Press Office: Maddalena Bonicelli / Agenzia del ContemporaneoVisual Communication and Design: Agenzia del ContemporaneoImage Coordination: Nexidia

Advisory Board:Diego BergamaschiMauro De IorioSilvia EvangelistiGiorgio FasolPatrizia MorosoCristiano SeganfreddoCatterina Seia

www.artverona.it@artverona

Presentation2018