Whitehot Magazine
"The Best Art In The World"
By PAUL LASTER, October 2019
The only fair in Italy exclusively devoted to contemporary art, Artissima returns to the Oval in Torino for its 26th edition with 208 galleries from 43 countries from October 31 to November 3, 2019. Directed by curator and art historian Ilaria Bonacossa, who received an MA in Curatorial Studies from Bard College and worked as research assistant for the 2003 Whitney Biennial and curator at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo until 2012, when she became the artistic director of the Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Villa Croce in Genova, the fair is celebrated for championing pioneering practices and launching up-and-coming artists and galleries.
With a theme exploring the duality of desire and censorship, this year’s fair includes seven sections: The Main Section, offering a selection of the representative galleries on the international scene; New Entries, which features emerging international players; Dialogue, which focuses on the works of two artists shown in close dialogue with each other; Art Spaces & Editions, highlighting galleries, project spaces and non-profit initiatives; and three sections curated by teams of international curators—Present Future, showcasing emerging talent; Back to the Future, focusing on the rediscovery of pioneers of contemporary art; and Disegni, featuring all forms of contemporary drawing.
We’re previewing 27 of our favorite artworks that will be on view at Artissima this week—with pieces ranging from Bruno Munari’s dynamic drawings from the 1930s and ‘40s at Galleria Maurizio Corraini Arte Contemporanea and Ugo Mulas’ photographic studio shots of Lucio Fontana painting in the 1960s at Lia Rumma to Lynda Benglis’ marvelous marble sculptures of twisted forms at Thomas Brambilla and Jesse Mockrin’s recent realistic paintings, which riff on European classical canvases, at Night Gallery.
Scroll through the images below to find more of our must-see picks. WM
Paul Laster is a writer, editor, curator, artist and lecturer. He’s a contributing editor at ArtAsiaPacific and Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art and writer for Time Out New York, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Galerie Magazine, Sculpture, Art & Object, Cultured, Architectural Digest, Garage, Surface, Ocula, Observer, ArtPulse, Conceptual Fine Arts and Glasstire. He was the founding editor of Artkrush, started The Daily Beast’s art section, and was art editor of Russell Simmons’ OneWorld Magazine, as well as a curator at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, now MoMA PS1.
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