Osvaldo Licini Award by Fainplast
The Osvaldo Licini by Fainplast Award stems from an idea of the Picena Contemporary Art Association with the collaboration and contribution of the City of Ascoli Piceno and the Fainplast group: an institution, an association, and a private company, united to celebrate a 20th-century master.
The award, for Italian painting, does not have an internal jury. Instead, 34 professionals in the contemporary art field, including curators, critics, collectors, museum directors, and journalists, were requested to name an artist who, in their opinion, stood out in 2020 or who has had a major career. There are four criteria for naming such artist: he/she must be Italian or live permanently in Italy; his/her work must mainly be painting; he/she must not be older than 64 (Osvaldo Licini’s age at his death); he/she must have taken part in at least one large show in Italy or abroad (biennial, quadrennial, or equally important exhibitions). From these votes, a list with 4 finalists was drawn up in 2021, and the award was won by the artist who received the most votes: Marco Neri.
For the 2022 edition of the Osvaldo Licini by Fainplast Award, one of the four finalists will be exhibited in the Pittura XXI section of Arte Fiera, selected by jury composed of a member appointed by Picena Contemporary Art Association plus two contemporary art professionals.
The selected artist will go into the final with a minimum of 3 votes (to which those of other external jurors may be added) and will compete with artists voted by external jurors.
JURY
Roberta Faraotti - External Relations and Welfare Manager
Damiano Gullì - Triennale Milano Contemporary Art Curator and Head Curator Public Program
Marianna Vecellio - Curator at Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea
Winning artist: : Andrea Barzaghi
Title of work: solo show, therefore no title
Winning gallery: Lunetta11
Motivation: Acknowledging the overall high quality of the works in the Pittura XXI section, the jury selected Andrea Barzaghi for his ability to carry on a consistent investigation and reflection on painting and its history and, at the same time, to adapt it to the issues of contemporaneity. Barzaghi manages to shake up painting it-self by shifting between two and three dimensions, creating “expanded” works with which he forms a freer, more experimental relationship that generates new expressive potentials. Barzaghi’s representation is not au-thoritarian and is not afraid to face the grotesque or the “different,” but offers an attempt to summarise the study of unknown aspects of humanity.