Eccentrica / Lina Pallotta: volevo vedermi negli occhi

For the first time in the history of Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, the contemporary art center of Tuscany, a selection of works and materials from the collections will open to the public, permanently occupying a wing of the museum, with a display designed by Formafantasma studio. On the same day, the first solo exhibition in an Italian institution by photographer Lina Pallotta opens its doors to the public. The collection project is part of the relaunch program of Centro Pecci in Prato, created by its new director Stefano Collicelli Cagol, appointed in 2022. Collicelli Cagol obtained a Ph.D from the Curating Contemporary Art department of the Royal College of Art in London in 2014, and was previously curator at BY ART MATTERS in Hangzhou, China, and at La Quadriennale in Rome, where he also co-curated the Quadriennale d’arte 2020 FUORI exhibition at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni.

Eccentrica: Le collezioni del Centro Pecci
From May 6, 2023, an immersive journey rereads the works collected by Centro Pecci through a selection of pieces acquired or donated from 1988 to the present day. The permanent installation has been designed by Formafantasma Studio according to criteria of sustainability and accessibility, two key concepts that inspire the artistic direction of Centro Pecci. Using fabrics made in Prato, Formafantasma has transformed the architecture of the new wing into a unique place to experience the museum and its architecture, tell the story of the city famous for its textile industry, and learn about contemporary art from the post-war period to the present day. With a shelf displaying various materials, allowing the works being accessible to different types of publics, the museum collection becomes a lab to develop new tools to experience works of art, conceived together with various communities. Through Radical Architecture, visual poetry by feminist artists from the 1970s, the Italian art of the 1990s, and some of the international artists represented in past exhibitions, Eccentrica aims to explore the collections of the institution from an eccentric perspective.

Artists: Vito Acconci, Archizoom, Stefano Arienti, Massimo Bartolini, Mirella Bentivoglio, Edo Bertoglio, Monica Bonvicini, Giulia Cenci, Sylvie Fleury, Lucio Fontana, Chiara Fumai, Marco Gastini, Nan Goldin, Dmitri Gutov, Ilya Kabakov, Anish Kapoor, Kinkaleri, Jannis Kounellis, Ketty La Rocca, Nanda Lanfranco, Paul Etienne Lincoln, Francesco Lo Savio, Lucia Marcucci, Silvia Mejía, Verita Monselles, Liliana Moro, Robert Morris, Gianni Pettena, Gerhard Richter, Julian Schnabel, Superstudio, Francesco Torrini, VALIE EXPORT, Andy Warhol, among others.

Technical sponsors: Manteco S.p.A, FLOS

Lina Pallotta: volevo vedermi negli occhi
Volevo vedermi negli occhi is the first solo exhibition of the photographer Lina Pallotta (born 1955, lives in Rome) in a public institution in Italy. Since the 1980s, Pallotta has been working on photographic projects with a strong political and ethical focus, recognising a significant social role for the medium. Centro Pecci presents a selection of photographs from the Porpora project, taken with Porpora Marcasciano, a transgender activist. The exhibition collects a long, unfinished portrait of Marcasciano—as a friend, a comrade and a person. Blurred images, contrasting black and white scenes and fast, fleeting moments restore the narrative and the intertwining of times, places and bodies. The exhibition, curated by Michele Bertolino and Elena Magini, is complemented by the book Porpora, published by Nero, which presents a selection of Pallotta’s photographs, a visual archive that outlines a possible path through the history of the homosexual and transgender movement since the 1970s, as well as essays on Pallotta’s photographic work. The volume is the winner of the Italian Council 10 grant.

Fondazione per le arti contemporanee in Toscana
Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci
Institution founded by Comune di Prato and supported by Regione Toscana