On October 30, 1976, the performance Io mescolo tutto: Cocaina, Frà Angelico by Gina Pane was presented for the first time at the Galleria Comunale d’Arte Moderna in Bologna. In this work the wound, an element already present in Pane’s practice, becomes a means of “subverting the hierarchies of the main components of her work, such as painting and gesture, and showing the capacities of the latter to merge and evolve into each other.” In this edition of TIME MACHINE dedicated to the artist—accompanied by a conversation between Gina Pane and Helena Kontova, originally published in Flash Art Italia no. 92–93 October–November 1979—Caterina Iaquinta explores the use of the wound as a dialogue-generating signifier with manifold guiding references, from Fra Angelico to Kazimir Malevich.
Io mescolo tutto represents the “theme” of this fall issue of Flash Art Italia: an attempt to investigate the collision of different languages, media and techniques in the works of contemporary artists. The work of Alessandro Di Pietro, this issue’s cover story, falls squarely within this research; in his installations and films he mixes artistic, philosophical and literary references, fueling a practice that “resembles a device exploded into a thousand fragments.” In conversation with Vincenzo Di Rosa, Di Pietro recounts his latest project, Ghostwriting Paul Theck: Time Capsule and Reliquaries (2020-ongoing), delves into the historiographical hacking operation carried out on Thek’s work and traces the genesis of Race of a Hippie (2023): a video in which found footage and scenes of the discovery of works “attributed” to the American artist coexist.
Also merging multiple languages—drawing, printmaking, embroidery, ceramics, monotype printing, and mosaic—Gaia Vincensini’s practice “is made more of ‘togetherness,’ less of ‘I.’” The interdependence between objects, techniques, and professions, between visual culture and archaic technicalities, is explored by the artist in conversation with Eleonora Milani. Different mediums also cross over in Rebecca Moccia’s work: live video, documents, and thermographs make up the installation Ministries of Loneliness, which, as Vincenzo Estremo writes, “is enriched by the atmospheric historical bearing of the space in which it is inserted, appropriating the former industrial function of the Fondazione ICA Milan office.”
The first episode of Brand New is dedicated to Leonardo Pellicanò, who in his paintings mixes narrative planes by other painters in an increasingly complex game of cross-referencing and blending, as Giorgio Di Domenico writes. According to Valentina Bartalesi, Cecilia De Nisco’s painting can be placed in “a condition of suspension, the outcome of a thoughtful miscellany of factors.” In conversation with Estelle Hoy, Camille Henrot addresses the genesis of the paintings on display in the exhibition “Jus d’Orange” opening at ICA Milano at the end of September, in which image and word mingle in search of new meanings.
This issue’s Critic Dispatch is dedicated to the 18th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, and features an extensive reflection by Manuel Orazi entitled “Architects without Architecture.”
Reviews
Jason Martin Reminiscence Galleria Christian Stein, Milan, by Federica Boragina / Lydia Ourahmane Polvere Ordet, Milan, by Giovanna Manzotti / Giuliana Rosso Bored Bones The Address, Brescia, by Michela Ceruti / Francesco João Seven Segment Display Fondazione Zimei, Palazzo Cavallerini Lazzaroni, Rome, by Marta Silvi / Alice Visentin The morning tide of moods Lateral, Rome, by Aurora Riviezzo / Straperetana 2023 Ultramoderne, Pereto, by Manuela Pacella / La sostanza agitata Palazzo Colicola, Spoleto, by Simone Ciglia / Veronica Bisesti Dove brulica l’altrove Galleria Alfonso Artiaco, Naples, by Giulia Pollicita / Kazuo Miyamoto Museo Madre, Naples, by Sara Dolfi Agostini / Aria Dean Wolves Progetto, Lecce, by Olamiju Fajemisin / Agostino Iacurci Dry Days, Tropical Nights Torre di Largo Treves, Milan, by Virginia Lambertucci
This issue will be available at Artissima, Turin, and Sprint, Milan.
