PREMIO LORENZO BONALDI PER LARTE ENTERPRIZE, III edition
AESTHETICS / DIETETICS
curated by Mizuki Endo
artists: Kikuko Nomi, Tsuyoshi Ozawa, Gary Ross Pastrana, Tadasu Takamine
ELDORADO:
MIRCEA CANTOR
BORN TO BE BURNT
curated by Alessandro Rabottini
Opening: THURSDAY 25 MAY 2006, at 6.30 pm
GAMeC Galleria dArte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo
Via S. Tomaso, 53
24121 Bergamo (Italy)
www.gamec.it
On 25th May GAMeC will present the winner exhibition of the of the third Premio Lorenzo Bonaldi per lArte EnterPrize, Aesthetics / Dietetics curated by Mizuki Endo. On the same occasion itll be opening Born to be burnt, a solo show by Mircea Cantor, part of the cycle of Eldorado.
PREMIO LORENZO BONALDI PER LARTE ENTERPRIZE, III edition. AESTHETICS / DIETETICS
26 May 16 July 2006
The group show Aesthetics / Dietetics, curated by Mizuki Endo, is the winner project of the third edition of the Premio Lorenzo Bonaldi per lArte EnterPrize. The project by Endo, nominated by Yuko Hasegawa (Chief Curator, MOT Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokio), has been submitted to the jury comprised by: Bob Nickas (Curatorial Advisor, PS1 Contemporary Art Centre / A MoMA Affiliate, Long Island – New York), Beatrix Ruf (Director Kunsthalle, Zurigo) and Giacinto Di Pietrantonio (Director GAMeC, Bergamo).
The Premio Lorenzo Bonaldi per lArte EnterPrize is the first international competition dedicated to young curators under the age of 30, conceived to commemorate Lorenzo Bonaldi’s passion for art and collecting. Held on an annual basis, it was organized by GAMeC – Galleria dArte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo, and funded by the Bonaldi family for the first time in 2003. It represents a unique sort of recognition, because it rewards the research of a young curator and his or her exhibition project. The purpose of this recognition is to highlight the significance of the key role recently assumed by curators on the international art scene, as well as encourage and support the talent of a young curator at an extremely critical stage in his or her professional development.
In Aesthetics /Dietetics, the curator seeks to articulate the current state of Asian contemporary art through the works of Kikuko Nomi, Tsuyoshi Ozawa, Gary Ross Pastrana and Tadasu Takamine. In between the dominant influence of modern Western art, and increasing commodification of contemporary art, contemporary artists in Asia has been searching for alternative aesthetics by rethinking and reformulating the daily practice of governing and structuring ones own body and life. Aesthetics / Dietetics starts from the concept of diet: in ancient Greek (diaita) meant conduct of life, in other words an ethical practice that bestowed an aesthetic guise on the life of man.
Nomis installation piece, Nedoko, is a practical reinterpretation of our natural act of sleeping: she develops the theme by turning a common bedroom into something alien. Ozawas Vegetable Weapon implies the hidden meanings of the familiar object, vegetable, by turning it into a weapon, and by sharing the process of digesting/disposing this once-politicized-object. Pastranas installation piece functions as a public space where the aesthetic possibility of ones ordinary activities emerges through the audiences encountering to the process of nature and the movement of living objects. Takamines video installation God Bless America shows the aesthetic contemplation of the America, i.e. the geographical other as well as the dominant and controlling force in the contemporary cultural globalization, through the artists ordinary daily practices. To produce this work, the artist and his partner remained locked in the artists studio for eighteen days.
The exhibition catalogue is published in Italian and English.
Aesthetics / Dietetics is supported by the contribution of Japan Foundation and Pola Art Foundation.
ELDORADO: MIRCEA CANTOR BORN TO BE BURNT
26 May 16 July 2006
GAMeC presents the first solo show devoted to Mircea Cantor by an Italian museum. The exhibition is part of the programming of Eldorado, the project room targeting the most interesting international representatives of the younger generations.
This solo exhibition is composed of three specially commissioned works. They get the public involved and subtly alter their perception of the museum space, playing on their expectations and the entrenched habits of cultural consumption.
At the entrance to the gallery, the spectator is welcomed by The Neworker (2006), an installation that suggests how the concept of labour evokes infinite possibilities and potential actions for human beings. At the same time, however, it also implies that this concept has become so central to the development and affirmation of the individual that, in space, it is transformed into a new form of religion and collective devotion.
The entire architecture of the museum is literally invaded by Born to be burnt (2006), after which the exhibition has been named. This work examines the possibility of perceiving space through senses other than sight. This work also reflects on the way the concepts of spirituality and religiosity have now converged into the various spheres of our daily experience, from commerce to cultural consumption. Energia (2006) is the third work on display. It is an installation composed of 33 bottles of Italians brands famous around the world, from mineral water to spirits and wines, which have been filled with milk. By replacing the contents of all the bottles with the first source of nourishment of all human beings the moment they are born, the artist suggests that it is necessary to turn to a persons most intimate and interior dimension in order to find the strength to transform reality.
With the utmost economy of expressive media, all the works in the exhibition question the very concept of museum display and suggest a poetic path to possible ethical renewal.
Still on view at GAMeC till July 16th the solo shows: Giulio Paolini. Fuori programma, Mario Finazzi. Photographs and Keren Cytter. Atmosphere.
Hours:
Tuesday to Sunday: 10am7pm
Thursday: 10am10pm
closed Monday
Entry:Free
For information:
GAMeC – Galleria dArte Moderna e Contemporanea
via San Tomaso, 53
24121 Bergamo
tel. 39 035 399528 / fax 39 035 236962
