Book Talk
in partnership with
After a very successful first edition, the Book Talk cycle - focussing exclusively on art books - has returned, offering the public some of the most interesting Italian books recently (or soon to be) published, ranging from theoretical essays to artist’s books, catalogues, and monographs.
A full schedule of events involving critics, experts, and artists.
FRIDAY 3 FEBRUARY
12 Noon
Alessandra Donati and Filippo Tibertelli de Pisis, L'archivio d'artista. Princìpi, regole e buone pratiche (Johan & Levi, 2022)
The first reference book for curators of artists’ archives. A handbook with guidelines and rules of “good practice” to safeguard the identity and authenticity of works, especially in relation to contemporary art languages.
Participants: Alessandra Donati (Art Law expert, Prof. Avv. of Counsel ADVANT-Nctmt) and Filippo Tibertelli de Pisis (founder and chairman of AitArt)
2 PM
Silvia Anna Barrilà€, Franco Broccardi, Maria Adelaide Marchesoni, Marilena Pirrelli and Irene Sanesi, Quanto è (ri)conosciuta all'estero l'arte contemporanea italiana
A report on the worldwide visibility of contemporary Italian art, focussing on artists born after 1960 and analysing the presence of their works in major institutional and commercial locations for international contemporary art in the past 10-20 years.
Participants: Marilena Pirrelli (journalist), Italo Carli (Head of ARTE Generali Italia), and Franco Broccardi (founder and partner of Lombard DCA di Milano and BBS-Lombard)
3 PM
Franco Fontana. Invisibile (Lazy Dog, 2022)
A book of 168 pages and over 100 illustrations, the result of meticulous archival research that discovered numerous unpublished shots by this famous Italian photographer, ranging from experimental studies to the intimate examples of expressive freedom that form the fertile ground on which Fontana’s unmistakeable style flourished.
Participants: Francesco Ceccarelli (Lazy Dog) and Lorenzo Respi (curator of the book)
6 PM
Hagoromo. Massimo Bartolini (NERO, 2022)
Published for the exhibition of the same name at the Pecci Centre in Prato, this book is the most complete presentation to date of the more than 30 years of Bartolini’s career. The historical and critical analysis of his works is presented by the curators’ texts, by an extensive collection of essays by foreign authors, by a large iconographic section in chronological order, and by comprehensive bio-bibliographical materials on the artist.
Participants: the artist, Luca Cerizza (curator of the Hagoromo exhibition at the Pecci Centre, Prato), and Cristiana Perrella (critic and curator)
Moderator: Marco Scotti (art historian)
SATURDAY 4 FEBRUARY
12 Noon
Sara Benaglia and Mauro Zanchi, Le insidie delle immagini. Cosa osserva la metafotografia (postmedia books, 2022)
The book originates from a wish to create a guide for students and professionals that explains what is meant by “metaphotography.” Before they wrote this brief viaticum, Sara Benaglia and Mauro Zanchi conducted a collective study, interviewing about a hundred artists and critics whose work applies a practice that commences in photography and then goes beyond its boundaries.
Participants: the authors and Giangavino Pazzola (curator of CAMERA, Turin and curator of the Photography and moving images section)
2 PM
Paola Ugolini, Femminismo e artiste italiane. Per una rilettura non egemone della Storia dell’arte (Christian Marinotti Edizioni, 2022)
The book focusses on the creation of feminist art as a historical and shared project elaborated by each artist based on their knowledge and coherence structured to varying degrees. It identifies a thread that unites the practices of artists who have worked in Italy since the First World War, from which emerge a series of aesthetic-political elements that have made art a field of subjectivation, giving rise to social, urban, ecological and feminist aspirations as radical as they were forgotten.
Participants: the author and Laura Cherubini (critic, curator and art historian)
3 PM
Programme of presentations curated by Irene Biolchini and Luca Bochicchio dedicated to Percorso, the thematic itinerary among the stands referring to ceramics. An opportunity to sum up the publishing and exhibition situation in recent years with regard to this artistic technique.
- The correlation between research and curatorial practice
Presentation of the book Per un manifesto della nuova ceramica (Irene Biolchini, Mousse publishing, 2022) and of the exhibits and catalogues curated by both authors at Casa Museo Jorn in Albissola Marina and MIC in Faenza.
Participants: Irene Biolchini (art historian and curator), Luca Bochicchio (critic, curator and director of MuDA) and Federica Minozzi (CEO Iris Ceramica Group)
- The mystery of plastic: Comparing three generations of criticism and art.
Presentation of Nanni Valentini. L’Annunciazione (curated by Flaminio Gualdoni, ABC-Arte, 2022), Antonio Violetta. La scultura emozionale (curated by Bruno Corà, Gli Ori, 2022), and Federico Branchetti. Una volta, oltre il tempo (curated by Nicola Bigliardi, Boîte Editions, 2022)
Participants: the authors, Federico Branchetti (artist) and Antonio Violetta (artista)
Moderators: Irene Biolchini and Luca Bochiccio
5 PM
Atlantide. Original Screenplay (Edizioni MAMbo, 2022)
The book, to be published by Edizioni MAMbo for the exhibit Atlantide 2017-2023, will contain the unpublished screenplay for Atlantide, adapted by Marco Alessi and Marta Tagliavia, who created a text after the film (without screenplay and with spontaneous dialogue) was made. The book will also contain a new essay by Lorenzo Balbi and a selection of stills from the film.
Participants: Yuri Ancarani (artist) and Lorenzo Balbi (Head of Area Arte Moderna e Contemporanea dell'Istituzione Bologna Musei)
6 PM
Oltre lo spazio, oltre il tempo. Il sogno di Ulisse Aldrovandi (Bologna University Press, 2022)
Catalogue of the homonymous exhibit at Golinelli Foundation and the University Museum System, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, which retraces the narration among art, science, and technology starting from Ulisse Aldrovandi, the father of modern scientific naturalism. An opportunity to reflect on the condition of humanity and on progress, from the past to an investigation of possible future scenarios.
Participants: Antonio Danieli (Fondazione Golinelli), Luca Ciancabilla (Università di Bologna) and Simone Gheduzzi (diverserighestudio)
SUNDAY 5 FEBRUARY
12 Noon
Pietro Consagra: La materia poteva non esserci (Mousse publishing, 2021)
Published for the homonymous exhibit curated by Alberto Salvadori at the Giancarlo and Danna Olgiati Collection in Lugano. Developed in collaboration with the Consagra Archive, the book investigates the artist’s multifaceted work, ranging from his passionate relationship with architecture to his intellectual dialogue with art critic and feminist activist Carla Lonzi, his crucial role in post-war Italian art, and the lightness of his Lenzuoli (Sheets) series of paintings on cloth.
Moderator: Alberto Salvadori (curator of the book)
Participants: Andrea Cortellessa (literary critic and historian) and Lara Conte (curator)
2 PM
Valérie Da Costa, Vita Nuova. Nouveaux enjeux de l’art en Italie 1960-1975 (Les Editions Snoeck, 2022)
Written by a scholar who in recent years has become the reference point in France for studies in contemporary Italian art, the book retraces the extraordinary energy of Italian artistic creation from 1960 to 1975 by means of a selection of works by over 50 artists. A cross section not only of art, but also of Italian society in those years.
Participant: the author and Ludovico Pratesi (art critic and curator)
3 PM
Viviana Pozzoli and Paolo Rusconi. Parola, immagine e cultura editoriale. Pubblicazioni d’arte contemporanea dalle collezioni di APICE (Corraini, 2022)
Published by the APICE foundation to mark its 20th anniversary. A group of experts present possible itineraries among the Centre’s many abounding collections: rare and precious volumes of manuscripts, preparatory materials, correspondence, drafts, datebooks, and libraries.
Participants: the authors
4 PM
Alberto Garutti. L’opera e il suo contesto
This Talk is devoted to the work and artistic path of Alberto Garutti, invited by Arte Fiera to create a new work for this edition. Taking Germano Celant’s monograph (soon to be published) on the artist as a starting point, Antonella Soldaini (curatorial consultant and head of research at Studio Celant), Eva Fabbris (curator and art historian) and Simone Menegoi (artistic director of Arte Fiera) retrace the artist’s career and discuss the work created for the fair.
5 PM
Gianni Bertini. Catalogo ragionato (Electa, 2021)
This publication derives from a multi-year project to collect all of the artist’s works archived and published during his career of about 60 years. In three languages (Italian, English, and French), the publication is composed of two volumes: the first, with 96 colour plates and numerous minimals, is a monographic study that reinterprets the artist’s entire career; the second, entirely in colour, is the complete catalogue of the approximately 2400 works selected.
Participants: Francesco Tedeschi (curator of the book) and Paolo Campiglio (art historian)
6 PM
Francesco Urbano Ragazzi, Images are real (Cura.Books, 2022)
This catalogue celebrates (in Italy) the hundredth birthday of Jonas Mekas, the undisputed pioneer of American independent cinema. It presents the passionate life and enormous output of this Lithuanian artist (relocated to New York), and explains the philosophical, avant-gardist, and political aspects of his work. In addition to an essay by the duo Francesco Urbano Ragazzi, curators of the publication, the book contains valuable contributions by Hollis Melton, P. Adams Sitney, Ieva Jasinskaite, and Philipp Scheid. With many illustrations, the catalogue documents the exhibit Images Are Real, under way at the Mattatoio in Rome
Participants: Francesco Urbano Ragazzi (curators of the book) and Vincenzo Estremo (theorist of moving images)