A new reference center for contemporary art is born in Piacenza: XNL Piacenza Contemporanea sises from the ashes of a former Enel factory and collects the best of the major Italian private collections: from Giorgio Morandi to Maurizio Cattelan, from Andy Warhol to Keith Haring, from Marina Abramovic to Bill Viola.
The exhibition “The revolution is us”
The opening of XNL Piacenza Contemporanea will be the exhibition “La rivoluzione siamo noi” (“The revolution is us” nd.t.) scheduled from February 1st to May 24th, 2020: 150 works from 18 of the most important private collections in Italy including sculptures, paintings, installations, videos and photographs by Contemporary “classic” authors such as Piero Manzoni, Maurizio Cattelan, Giorgio Morandi, Marina Abramović, Tomás Saraceno, Andy Warhol, Bill Viola, Gerhard Richter, Daniel Buren, Dan Flavin, Michelangelo Pistoletto and more recent artists such as Ghada Amer, Roberto Cuoghi , Sislej Xhafa, Tobias Rehberger, Teresa Margol-les, Zanele Muholi, Urs Fischer, Thomas Hirschhorn and Zang Huan.
Among the works of greatest appeal and importance: the self-portrait of Cattelan (hung on a hook) which gives the title to the exhibition, the “Self-portrait with collector” by Pistoletto exceptionally loaned by the Uffizi in Florence and the exceptional screenprint of “Vesuvius” By Andy Warhol.
Part of the exhibition also several video interviews with collectors, collected by Roberto Dassoni and Eugenio Gazzola.
Eight sections
This is an exhibition that focuses on the relationship between artist and collector, as curator Alberto Fiz explains: “The revolution is us analyses the figure of the collector intended as a patron of the Third Millennium, but also as a manager of chaos and builder of a new project where he himself becomes responsible. In this sense, the collector is not a simple buyer of works of art, but with his choices he takes on a leading role in public life”.
The exhibition focuses on the relationship between artist and collector and transversely scans contemporary movements, styles and trends through eight sections: in Complicità (Complicity, n.d.t.) the relationship between collector and artist is expressed through a series of portrait-dedications; in Domestiche alterazioni (Home alterations, n.d.t.) the home environment and everything connected to it is proposed in an ironic and paradoxical key; in Rovesciare il mondo (Turning the world upside down, n.d.t.), suspended time and social and political issues; in “Enigma” the red thread that links the research of collectors and the investigation of artists; in L’altro visto da sé (The other seen from oneself, n.d.t.) the crossed destinies of artists and collectors; in Controllare il caos (Controlling chaos, n.d.t.) the vitalistic energy expressed through an action; in Esplorazioni (Explorations, n.d.t.) a further element of intersection between the research of collectors and that of artists; in Spazi di monocromia (Monochrome spaces, n.d.t.) the theme of monochrome as it was developed in the twentieth century with particular reference to Medardo Rosso’s sculpture.
Cover image:
Aldo Mondino, Torre di torrone, 1968,
Scatole di torrone (legno e carta), 180×260,
Collezione La Gaia
Target Point, Italian Ideas