ColophonArte Award
This award, addressed to young artists, is presented by a major publisher of Italian art books, which over the years have expressed a constant open dialogue among art, thought, and poetry.
The award is open to artists under 40 and of any nationality. Every year, it allows a young artist whose works are exhibited at Arte Fiera (selected by a jury composed, for this first edition, by Serena Carbone, Olga Gambari, and Riccardo Montanaro) to conceive and publish a book in an edition of 500 copies, plus a special more limited edition.
Colophonarte, a publisher of art books, was founded in Belluno in 1988. After over 30 years, it boasts a catalogue of over 120 books created with the finest contemporary artists in Italy and Europe, who have interpreted poems, texts, music, and ideas from the world’s literature and culture.
Each book is a unique project, but all are linked by a consistent cultural idea, by a recognisable identity typical of Italian design, and by the precious contribution of master artisans, essential for the creation of such exquisite books.
All of the books are published in limited editions, and are always signed and numbered, with texts composed in movable lead type, hand-printed on pure cotton paper, and artisanally bound.
Colophon will present only a few selected books at Arte Fiera, representing its history by means of an ideal temporal, cultural, and artistic path. From its first edition in 1988 (Quattro canti di Leopardi, interpreted by Walter Valentini) to today, Colophonarte offers an anthology of the most significant Italian and international artistic expression of the past thirty years.
Jury:
- Olga Gambari, curator, journalist and art critic
- Serena Carbone, art historian and curator
- Riccardo Montanaro, attorney at Studio Montanaro e Associati, Turin
Selected artists:
- Fabrizio Cotognini, Prometeo Gallery (Hall 25 Stand B/39)
- Elena Mazzi, Ex Elettrofonica (Hall 25 Stand A/89)
- Shafei Xia, P420 (Hall 25 Stand A/9)
Winning artist: ELENA MAZZI
Winning gallery: Ex Elettrofonica (Hall 25 Stand A/89)
Motivation: Elena Mazzi is the winner of the first edition of the ColophonArte Award for the conceptual, experimental, poetic, and participatory value of her work, which originates in her personal genius and encounters common themes, using a variety of languages and practices, perceiving her time and “the other,” in which the human and natural element is in harmony, with a vision of art that is never an end in itself. The “artist’s book” will be a place and a challenge for conceiving a free and open project, interpreting the spirit of this award in the best possible way.