BJCEM 2009 - Skopje - 3/12 sept 2009

I came back yesterday night from a trip to Skopje as member of a delegation for the BJCEM biennal.

The experience itself has been disappointing in some cases - the organization was not always brilliant and the exhibition spaces were spread out in the city so that it became pretty hard in some moments to see the works AND participate to shows/performances/lectures.

Apart from this, I will use the next days to talk about some specific aspects of the biennal itself.

I especially wish to talk about some artists and the spaces used for the biennal.

so stay tuned!!!

Sketch Matinée

last week end I was invited to join Stefano Calligaro in his trip to Duesseldorf for the first appointment of Sketch Matinée, a series of artists' presentations in the (amazing) space of Friederike Mainka's atelier.
the experience was definetly nice! you can see the blog of Sketch Matinée following this link, with some pictures of the works from Stefano Calligaro

the next presented artists will be:

Joung-En Huh - 19 july
Jeroen Kuster - 2 august
Maarten Janssen - 16 august
Burchhard Garlichs - 6 september
Friederike Mainka - 20 september
Irene van de Mheen - 4 october
Sonja Meyer - 18 october
Nicola Schrudde - 8 november
Dré Wapenar - 22 november
Petra Albrand - 6 december

you can find all the links and information on the blog.
I loved it because there was a very good atmosphere and finally everyone was taking their time to talk and discuss and this is not so common. The attention and curiosity of people were really amazing. And it's such a good way to spend a monday morning!
Good job!!
enjoy!!!

BEyond Pictures

here's a link to the website Trendbeheer with some images of the show!

http://trendbeheer.com/2009/03/28/22506/

enjoy :)

BEyond - my latest project in Rotterdam!!!

BEyond:

Sabrina Basten,

Stefano Calligaro,

Friederike Mainka,

Esmé Valk,

Irene van de Mheen,

Annegien van Doorn,

Sjoerd Westbroek,

a project by teresa iannotta

opening 26th march 2009, 19.00 hourDuende,tamboerstraat 9, Rotterdam

“As all the techniques have been discovered and all their combinationshave been experienced there's no border to define what exactly is asculpure, a performance, a video or a photograph. There's sculpturesthat would love to be drawings, drawings that would love to be videosand sometimes videos that would love to be paintings. In this sort of cracks I find the most interesting meanings of works, as if there wassome kind of unsatisfied tension in them, something that forces thespectator to look beyond. Works that need to be watched always oncemore to be understood a little bit, that underline with their physicalpresence the struggle between different techniquesand shapes.”

BEyond is supported by the italian funding program Movin' Up

Memory and Memories

I was so incredibly impressed by the site specific installation by Anish Kapoor in Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin called Memory. It took me a while to think about it and this again and again and this is usually a clear signal to me that an artwork somehow works for me.

First I loved tha way the title tells everything about the work: you will never get to see the entire piece, you only can use your memory to somehow put it back all together.

Second, I loved that for once I payed the ticked NOT to enter the museum. I loved to look at the texture of the surface of the piece, I love the total black in it and the silence you could hear standing in front of it (it's such a pity they decided to place the window to look in it right beside the bar but anyway...)

I loved it so much that when I heard people (yes, they were italian) complaining because they payed 3€ to see it I was almost going to shout at them. :)

I know - it's only rock and roll but I like it

I know I was supposed to use this space for visual art experiences. But what if something impresses me visually even though it's not visual arts? well, I suppose I should write about it anyway.

So, this is what happened to me yesterday night with the show "Underwork" from a young-brilliant-talented company from italy (verona): Babilonia Teatri (you'll find the link below as usual)

First of all I LOVED their physical presence. retro clothes in the same colors of italian flags and three clever faces.

They have a bitter bitter sense of humor, something you would usually describe with "I do not know if I should cry or laugh"

Both of them, I suppose. The reason why I laughed is because of their funny and clever jokes in the use of italian language. The reason why I should probably cry it's because they touched something in my inner deep pride. I just moved from italy because of my job and I still feel really strange about it.

So, what to say, I guess they deserve every single success on their way and wish them more and more.

At least because of them (well, with a few other reasons) i would say I AM HAPPY TO BE BACK TO ITALY this week :)

http://www.babiloniateatri.it/

I'm back - and Santa is free!!!

I was not the only one being relocated in Rotterdam this month :) Paul McCarthy's Santa Claus found a new home as well.

The sculpture was at the center of a debate from a few years and appearently could not find its own proper position in the city. Until one day a group of shop owners, the Binnenweg Association, asked to adopt him and gave him a new place to stay in Eendrachtsplein, right in center of the city.

The statue, a six-meters-tall hybrid between Santa Claus and a garden gnome, who holds in his hands a bell and a giant buttplug/christmas tree, is meant to represent american's consumerism and commercial success. This huge kind of "devotional image" had its celebration day on November 28th, with a whole afternoon of events dedicated to "him".

The program included a more "formal" part: the screening of Paul McCarthy's "Painter" in the early afternoon and a lecture by Ton Bevers (Professor in Cultural Sociology at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University) on the history of the sculpture.

Then, the celebration became some kind of folk event: a parade with children and music followed the sculpture on its way to Eendrachtsplein. Of course SinterKlaas and Father Christmas were attending the event as well.

It was incredible to see how a controversial based on a contemporary art piece could become a social event bringing together many different kinds of people, mostly not connected to the artworld at all. The celebration went on and on with music, free food and champagne and some screenings of Paul McCarthy's videos much longer after the final installation of Santa Claus in the square.

Will we ever see something similar in Italy?