November 6–8
Oval, Lingotto Fiere
Turin
The 22nd edition of Artissima, International Fair of Contemporary Art, closed in Turin on November 8. As every year, the major event devoted to contemporary art and one of the most fascinating on the contemporary art calendar had its centre at the fair pavilion and expanded to animate the cultural life of the entire city.
During the four days of the event (one day strictly for professionals and three for the public), Artissima attracted over 52,000 visitors.
With its ability to keep setting new objectives and forge new paths while maintaining and consolidating its distinctive identity, Artissima continues to be one of the most fascinating events on the contemporary art calendar, gaining the interest of a specialised audience of Italian and international collectors as well as the general public.
With 207 galleries, emerging or established, participating in the different sections of the fair coming from 35 countries, overseas presence amounted to a total of nearly 70%.
This year saw an even higher quality of booths at Artissima, which were often developed around a curatorial project. The new format of the avant-garde monographic section Back to the Future, focused this time on the decade 1975–85 and was embraced by art professionals as well as collectors. Present Future too proved to be geographically diverse, with an unexpected variety in the work of the 20 emerging participating artists. Per4m, the section devoted to performance art, which was first staged in 2014, was astonishing this year, owing to the large audiences attracted by this highly innovative section, the first of its kind worldwide.
Furthermore, Artissima has been confirmed as a must-see event for the international art milieu, once again attracting numerous curators and directors from some of the world’s most prestigious museums, 50 of whom were directly involved in the various fair initiatives (through committees, juries, the Walkie Talkies tours, and more). But what was perhaps most distinguished in this year’s event was the fair’s absolute focus on collecting. The city of Turin attracted countless collectors and heads of acquisition from around the world, many of whom travelled from Latin America, the United States and Asia. This year the fair worked extensively to emphasise the role—and the eye—of collectors, making every effort to facilitate the development of strong relations and help establish ties linking collectors with the general public, artists and gallery owners. Examples of this important collector-focus initiative include the personal involvement of important collectors in the Walkie Talkies, the famous strolls through the fair alongside curators from around the world; the visionary project Opium Den, curated by Maurizio Vetrugno, which successfully transformed Artissima’s VIP lounge into a lavish and eclectic visual essay; while with the exhibition Inclinazioni, curated by Stefano Collicelli Cagol, the fair’s presentation space dedicated to the public and private collections of the Piedmont region was expanded into a high-profile exhibition project.
Artissima is the fair of first times, as it is the art event most involved in experimentation and innovation. This year the challenge was to engage with highly diverse initiatives, all of which were held inside the pavilion of the Oval. The organisers are delighted that the 22nd edition of Artissima made visible its success as innovator: from public initiatives such as Ypsilon St’Art Itineraries, a free programme of theme-based visits to the stands of galleries, to the UniCredit Art Advisory programme, the first free and independent consultancy service for new art collectors in Italy.
This year Artissima also raised the total number of prizes for artists and galleries to six, marking a new record for the Turin fair. The following prizes were awarded at Artissima:
The 2015 illy Present Future Prize was awarded to Alina Chaiderov, presented by Galerie Antoine Levi, Paris.
The 2015 Sardi per l’Arte Back to the Future Prize went to the galleries Ellen de Bruijne, Amsterdam, and Dan Gunn, Berlin, which presented works by Michael Smith.
The 2015 Prix K-Way Per4m’s joint winners were Julien Bismuth, presented by Galerie Emanuel Layr, Vienna, with the work Untitled (Lull) (2015), and Christian Falsnaes, presented by PSM Gallery, Berlin, with the work Rise (2014).
The 2015 Promos Scalo Milano New Entries Prize was awarded to Galerie Laurent Mueller, Paris.
The 2015 Reda Prize winner was the artistic duo Calla Henkel & Max Pitegoff, presented by Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin.
The 2015 Fondazione Ettore Fico Prize was awarded to the artist Anne Imhof, presented by Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin, with the work Untitled 2 (Der Schwan) (2015).
See you November 3–6 in 2016!
Artissima is a brand of the Regione Piemonte, Città Metropolitana di Torino and Città di Torino; mandated by the three organisations, it is connected with the Fondazione Torino Musei. The 22nd Artissima has been staged thanks to the support of the three bodies that own the brand name, together with the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, Compagnia di San Paolo and the Camera di commercio di Torino. Artissima is organised by Artissima Srl, a company established in 2008 to manage the fair’s artistic and commercial relations.
The 2015 event involved the collaboration of:
Main partner: UniCredit
Partners: Aon, CTA, GTT, Girard-Perregaux, illycaffè, K-Way, Lancia, Lauretana, Leica, Owenscorp, Reda, Ruinart, Fondazione Sardi per l’Arte, Promos Scalo Milano
In kind-sponsors: Artsy, Cappellini, CarloAngela, FR Costruzioni, GL Events Italia—Lingotto Fiere, Halifax, Inkiostro Bianco, Kartell, Kela, Lago, Leolori, Moret, Poltrona Frau, Sagat, Zaini Milano
Official carrier: Gondrand
Media partner: La Stampa
Media coverage: Sky Arte HD