Arte Essenziale

Arte Essenziale

Opening:
November 3, 2011, 7 pm

Frankfurter Kunstverein
Markt 44
60311 Frankfurt, Germany

www.fkv.de

The exhibition Arte Essenziale presents sculptures and large-scale installations by eight international contemporary artists from Italy, Great Britain, Georgia, and the US. All artists were commissioned by the Italian Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia to produce new works for the exhibition. “Arte Essenziale” was first shown at the Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia and is now being presented at the Frankfurter Kunstverein.

The term “Arte Essenziale” provides the exhibition its title and also serves as its conceptual framework. A concept formulated by the Italian philosopher Federico Ferrari, it attests to the need to identify at the end of the postmodern era a gesture of a new beginning in contemporary art. Central to his considerations is the search for the origin of artistic practice, with particular regard to the essence of the artistic gesture, its necessity, and meaning. For Ferrari, the artistic medium and the particular materiality constitute a definite approach: the essence of the artwork is manifested at the point where the material emerges out of itself to become what it is.

“Arte Essenziale” does not attempt to define a group, but presents individual positions that have developed over the past decade and which appear to share a common understanding of art. On the one hand, they explore the potential and characteristics of the materials employed while situating everyday materials, such as plaster or skin cream, in relationship to symbolically charged materials, like bronze or marble; when expressed sculpturally, this interplay of contrasting substances is heightened and richly sensual. On the other, the artistic positions address philosophical concepts concerning the relationship between material, space, and time.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: Karla Black (UK), Gianni Caravaggio (IT), Alice Cattaneo (IT), Thea Djordjadze (GE), Jason Dodge (US), Francesco Gennari (IT), Ian Kiaer (UK), Helen Mirra (US).

CURATOR: Federico Ferrari, Professor of Philosophy of Art, Accademia di Brera, Milan (Italy)

CATALOGUE: A bilingual catalog (Italian/English) accompanies the exhibition, published by Collezione Maramotti and featuring an essay by Federico Ferrari.

PRODUCED BY: Collezione Maramotti in cooperation with Frankfurter Kunstverein

OPENING HOURS: Tues, Thurs and Fri: 11 am–7 pm, Wed: 11 am–9 pm, Sat, Sun: 10 am–7 pm

PRESS CONTACT: Julia Wittwer, Anna Goetz, phone: +49.69.219314-30/-40, fax: +49.69.219314-11, email: presse@fkv.de, www.fkv.de (texts and images for download under PRESS)