Italian contemporary art at Fine Art Asia 2020 – A project by the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong
On The occasion of Fine Art Asia 2020, the Italian Cultural Institute, in partnership with Novalis Contemporary Art Design and Rossi & Rossi, is pleased to announce a joint presentation of Italian fine art, furniture and interior design at FAA.
Rossi & Rossi
Continuing its programme to introduce and promote Italian art in Asia, Rossi & Rossi is pleased to present a group of Italian artists that extensively research and dive into the various materials as mediums of expressions.
Recognized for his daring use of material, works of Massimo Antonaci (b.1958 ) in tar and glass—mediums he ceased using in 2000–have received international acclaim. His work on papyrus begins where those on glass finished, transmuting a force, characterized by the artist as ‘man’s own shadow’, which materializes as a circle rendered on handmade papyrus sheets. This body of work branches out from Antonaci’s vast research in religion and history. The artist views the wrinkled, parched medium—the physical result of air and sunlight drying out papyri sap—as the embodiment of what is and what remains, a timeless awareness that survives and substantiates reality.
Straddling compositional surrealism and formal hyperrealism, Bertozzi & Casoni (Giampaolo Bertozzi, born in 1957 & Stefano Dal Monte Casoni, born in 1961) reverse iconographic conventions, freely mixing various references and contradicting presuppositions. As fragile as it is strong, the ceramic material exalts Bertozzi & Casoni’s vile miscellany, offering a cynical metaphor of abundance and prosperity. The works record all that is marvelous and mysterious in their most despised and repressed manifestations, or consequences, of life – with frequent recourse to the genres of memento mori, horror vacui and vanitas. In this way, the artists consolidate and expand their gaze over the path of history and demonstrate that in art nothing is new, nothing is destroyed and everything is contemporary.
Known for her experimental approach in the medium of photography, Elisa Sighicelli (b.1968) probes into the materiality of photos and its effect on our way of seeing. Merging with materials that have different tactile properties and textures, her photographs analyze the ways in which reality reflects itself and often times appears to be made from the very substance it represents. In a world saturated with virtual images, the artist sets out to restore the palpable tangible existence of images in a physical space.
Internationally recognised for his strong and unique use of materials, including metal and glass, Giorgio Vigna’s (b.1955) artistic output is closely related to the body and its gestures, and he gives life to sculptures that are capable, in their primordial aspects, of reconciling his imaginative power with the elements of nature. At the heart of his work is the theme of the hidden – of the materials’ innerness, of their dark side, which his work brings to light.
Rossi & Rossi selection of artworks for Fine Art Asia 2020
Novalis Contemporary Art Design
Established in 2012, Novalis Contemporary Art Design Gallery was founded in Hong Kong by Italian art connoisseur William Figliola, after he founded Post Design Gallery at Milan in 1992 and Italian Arts Foundation later.
Novalis Contemporary Art Design specializes in showcasing a large amount of objects designed by “Memphis Milano” Group, the famous Italian design movement born in 1981 and led by remarkable Italian designer Ettore Sottsass. The group created furniture, fabrics, ceramics, glasses by prestigious designers and architects such as Ettore Sottsass, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Shiro Kuramata, Michael Graves, Peter Shire and many others.
While the creative experience of the Memphis group came to an end in the late 1980s, the entrepreneurial and productive activity of the Memphis company continues. 1989 saw the launch of the “Meta Memphis” collection, an innovative experiment that involved no longer designers, but internationally renowned artists engaged for the first time in the design of objects and furniture.
Therefore, Novalis Contemporary Art Design also represents “Meta Memphis” and “Post Design”, the most remarkable Italian design brands.
On 26 – 30 November 2020, Novalis Contemporary Art Design’s exhibition at Fine Art Asia is entitled to present a series Italian designers’ master pieces from period of “Memphis Milano” to recent. The featuring artists include Ettore Sottsass, Alighiero Boetti, Sandro Chia, Marco Bagnoli and Marcello Morandini.
Aside from design, as an associated institution, Novalis Contemporary Art Design also works with Italian Arts Foundation to promote Italian Art in the world. Italian Arts Foundation collaborates with many private collections and art institutions to promote unique and prestigious pieces of art.
Novalis Contemporary Art Design is also a mix between an art gallery and a cultural center, designed to investigate and disseminate the connections between art, design, architecture and photography, with a specific research into avant-garde and contemporary.
Novalis Contemporary Art Design selection of artworks for Fine Art Asia 2020
Fine Art Asia
Fine Art Asia 2020 is recognised by the international art world as the most distinguished annual fine art fair in the region.
Founded in 2006, the fair attracts leading Hong Kong and international galleries, and provides an unrivalled platform for art and antiques in Asia.
As usual, Fine Art Asia 2020 showcases museum-quality Asian and Western antiques, jewellery, modern and contemporary art, as well as a spectacular array of ink art.
This year Fine Art Asia is pleased to collaborate with Art Basel and to welcome Hong Kong Spotlight by Art Basel to Fine Art Asia 2020. Hong Kong Spotlight supports and brings together the city’s visual arts community, creating an opportunity to experience art and exchange ideas in person.
Fair Information
Venue:
Booth E12 – Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, Wan Chai
Dates and Times:
Thursday, 26 Nov.: 2–8 pm VIP Preview (by invitation only)
Friday 27 to Sunday 29 Nov.: 11 am – 7 pm Open to public (limited tickets with time slots)
Monday, 30 Nov.: 11 am – 6 pm Open to public (limited tickets with time slots)
Admission Fee:
Adults: HK$120 (Admits one)
Full time students and senior citizens (over 60): HK$50
Free admission for children under 12 accompanied by an adult
*Tickets are now available at Hong Kong Ticketing.