ArtVerona 2018

ArtVerona 2018 
12 – 15 October 14th edition. 
Utopia

ArtVerona 2018 is growing in terms of numbers, quality, trust of the galleries and collectors. The second year of art director Adriana Polveroni sees the entry of 35 new galleries, for a total of 150 modern and contemporary art exhibitors, plus 14 independent spaces and 18 publishers, with an area that has been renovated so as to also host the more experimental work. The theme of the edition of 2018, to be held from 12 to 15 October, is Utopia, based on its design-related facets, linked to the ability to envisage new scenarios.
More growth is also seen in Verona’s involvement, with an itinerary that stems from the 3 projects of Art&TheCity that offer a rich programme of exhibitions and events organised in partnership with the local institutions and cultural organizations. Verona, with the beauty of its ancient centre and its aperture to the contemporary, is thus the harbinger of the message #backtoitaly that is the banner of ArtVerona’s identity.
There will be 6 sections hosted in the two Fair pavilions, dedicated to modern and contemporary art. In the Main Section visitors will admire the work of consolidated and emerging artists that compose a selected itinerary, and that focuses mainly on Italian artists, both those already acclaimed by the market and critics, along with mid career artists and the younger artists, as well as international proposals. The new section is Focus on: galleries that are exhibiting a host Country for the first time. This year, the focus is on Lithuania and its young and lively art scene, thanks to the assistance of Julija Reklaitė, the cultural attaché of the Lithuanian Republic to Italy. The section Grand Tour also gives us a glimpse of the international scenario with galleries that illustrate their ‘there and back’ stories: foreign galleries present in Italy and interested in our artists, and vice versa Italian galleries that have moved abroad. Fully confirmed is the presence of the two more experimental sections with a double formula that has gained excellent following in the previous edition: a solo exhibition for the Raw Zone and an exhibition expanded to include 3 artists in the Scouting section.
14 non profit organizations have been selected thanks to the annual contest of i9 - spazi indipendenti, the section curated by Cristiano Seganfreddo who opens the Fair’s doors to the variegated scenario of the project spaces that is becoming increasingly more active in producing contemporary art.
The first Italian fair to dedicate a section to the non-profit scenario, ArtVerona also hosts “independent artists”: 3 young artists who have never before been represented by a gallery will be presented in the section Free Stage by an international artist, Adrian Paci: the young debutantes are Leonardo Pellicanò (1994) and the duo consisting of Chiaralice Rizzi (1982) and Alessandro Laita (1979).
Themes, players, scenarios of the 14th edition of ArtVerona will be the topic of a series of talks, meetings with the artists and other occasions for further acquaintance stemming from the associations and projects shared in the course of the year, ranging from collecting to the relationship between art and business, from the utopias that guide art to the involvement of the new younger generations. The opening talk is related to the future: What’s Art for? A cosa serve l’Arte oggi?, concluding the research/action itinerary created and curated by Catterina Seia as an investigation in the role art plays in the everyday life of young people.
The team of ArtVerona sees the confirmation of its Steering Committee, consisting of Diego Bergamaschi, Mauro De Iorio, Giorgio Fasol, Patrizia Moroso, Cristiano Seganfreddo and Catterina Seia. The main partner is the Consorzio Collezionisti delle Pianure, led by Antonio Grulli, that will be participating in the Fair’s roadshow for Collezionismo al Centro, the last venue of which was Verona in mid September and to which will be dedicated the third edition of the editorial project Critical Collecting featuring ten art critics illustrating ten collections
ArtVerona 2018 also presents 2 new prizes: WiDiCollect (Wise Dialog Collecting) dedicated to multimedia art, conceived by the collector and financial consultant Fabio Agovino and promoted by Banca Widiba, and A disposizione, the new art purchase fund of Veronafiere.
Confirmed are the other prizes and awards: there are 14 Italian museum directors – with the new entries
Elisabetta Barisoni, in charge of Ca’ Pesaro - Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna of Venice; Andrea
Bruciati, director of Villa Adriana e Villa d’Este in Tivoli; Mauro Felicori, general director of Reggia di
Caserta and Lorenzo Giusti, director of GAMeC in Bergamo – who will participate in Level 0, the project
sponsored by AGSM, by means of which one of the Fair’s artists is chosen to exhibit solo. Also confirmed are
Premio Icona, Premio Fotografia Under 35, supported by the entrepreneur and photographer Riccardo
Aichner, Sustainable Art Prize, in cooperation with the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Display, the i9 -
spazi indipendenti prize sponsored by AMIA, and the Gruppo Privato di Acquisizioni.
Art&TheCity is the program of the Fair’s events that offers an itinerary that touches upon Verona’s less
renowned locations, flanked by an extensive VIP programme for collectors and a rich programme of satellite
events.
Chi utopia mangia le mele. Dal sogno al progetto in quattro tempi, the exhibition curated by Adriana
Polveroni and Gabriele Tosi and designed to fill the charming rooms of the Palazzo ex Dogana di terra,
loaned to the Superintendency for archaeology, fine arts and landscape of the provinces of Verona,
Rovigo and Vicenza that is working at the project together with the Municipality of Verona. With works by
over 40 artists, Via trans-generation dialogue and a selection of works of the period from the 1960’s to the
present, the project investigates the controversial, recurrent and fickle nature of utopia, the challenges it poses
in going beyond the conventional facts and the present (until 2 December, catalogue by Manfredi Edizioni).
ArtVerona this year pays homage to Hidetoshi Nagasawa, the great Japanese artist who passed away
recently and who had chosen to live and work in Italy. The itinerary, that crosses through several significant
locations of Verona, was created by Adriana Polveroni in dialogue with Ryoma Nagasawa, and enjoys the
assistance of the Direzione Musei Civici di Verona, of the Soprintendenza archeologia, belle arti e
paesaggio per le province di Verona, Rovigo e Vicenza, and the participation of Mart, Museo di
arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto.
Another comeback is the Festival Veronetta, a widespread event, a participatory art project set in an urban
context featuring a strong personal identity, with the participation of the Municipality of Verona, the
University of Verona, of ESU and of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Verona. The Fair also hosts La Terza
Notte di Quiete, the new edition of the project curated by Christian Caliandro that permeates the district with
the work of three artists - Elena Bellantoni, Eugenio Tibaldi e Marco Raparelli – together with 11 students
of the Fine Arts Academies of Verona, Frosinone and Foggia. The district’s involvement extends to the Santa
Marta Campus of the University of Verona that will host the exhibition marking a new partnership between
ArtVerona and the artist in residence project NUOVE//Laprima Plastics, curated by Geraldine Blais, and for
the occasion presents the artists Jesse Darling together with Fondazione Bonotto, Filippo Manzini and
Nicola Pecoraro; in addition to an intervention by Gianluca Concialdi. The same venue, that also exhibits
the arresting installation Aquila by Hitetoshi Nagasawa, will host Rosario delle Assenze, the environmental
installation by the artist Fabrizio Gazzarri, curated by Diego Mantoan.
The research and experimentation of the young artists is at the heart of the project First Step 9 of the
Accademia di Belle Arti di Verona. The program of the Festival also features the themes of innovation, of
photography and even of sound with a preview of the Path Festival and the projection of Negus by
Invernomuto.

practical information

Verona Exhibition Centre 

Hall 11-12

Viale del Lavoro 8 | 37135 Verona

12 October, 2018
from 11:00 am Opening (by invitation only),

from 2:00 pm to 7:30 pm open to the public

13 – 14 October, 2018
from 11:00 am to 7:30 pm

15 October, 2018
from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

 /www.artverona.