Stefano Arienti discusses his artistic ideology, ‘Antipolvere’ contemporary art exhibitions |   April 25, 2017

In an interview published last Friday by Contemporary art critic and historian Leonardo Regano, Olnick Spanu Art Program artist Stefano Arienti—who created La Biblioteca (Library) for the Garrison house in 2012—discussed his late artistic background, as well as his ideology on rejuvenating the art of the past through mass consumerism products. This is the main theme of his current exhibition aptly titled Antipolvere (Anti-Dust), now on display at the Civic Gallery of Modena, Italy, through July 16, 2017.

La Biblioteca, Stefano Arienti, Olnick Spanu Art Program
La Biblioteca by Stefano Arienti (b. 1961), 2012, Olnick Spanu Art Program. Photo by Marco Anelli © 2016.

Antipolvere is a collective of Arienti’s works created since the middle of the new millennium. Curated by Daniele de Luigi and Serena Goldoni, it showcases the rich juxtaposition between his conceptions of courtly subjects depicted on generic, everyday materials such as photocopies, wrapping paper, comic books and phone directories.

“I’m enraptured by these widespread, everyday consumer products and the idea of recovering their precise characteristics as such in order to see the rapport they have with art and its creation,” Arienti said.

Nancy, Stefano Arienti, Comic book, contemporary art
Nancy by Stefano Arienti (b. 1961), 2012, comic book. Photo by Marco Anelli © 2016.

Due to his late blossoming as an artist, he considers himself to be an autodidact whose techniques and stylings flourished on the job. His pieces tend to collaborate with the audience and space, giving a new meaning to each installation every time they are displayed.

Looking back at the beginnings of the Contemporary art movement, Arienti sees a shift between then and now in the way this type of art is viewed.

“If you ask me what has changed in this rapport today, I can tell you that people didn’t truly know what Contemporary art was a few years ago; this brought a kind of distrust in the interaction that today is less seen. We could say that Contemporary art has almost become a daily presence, a mass phenomenon.”

ARTECINEMA screenings: A Selection of Italian Films on Contemporary Art at Casa Italiana on December 9 |   December 6, 2016

On December 9, 2016 (6.30 pm – 8.30 pm) Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò, in collaboration with ArteCinema and sponsored by Magazzino Italian Art, will be hosting screenings of a selection of Italian Films on Contemporary Art curated by Laura Trisorio.

Among these, at 7.05 pm, the film Posatoi documenting the creation of a site-specific work by Olnick Spanu Art Program artist Francesco Arena, will be shown.

Check the detailed program here.

arte-cinema
ArteCinema 2016

Artecinema is an international festival of films on contemporary art, established in Naples in 1996 with the objective of making various facets of contemporary art known to the public at large. This objective has been attained by presenting a selection of documentaries of important artists, architects and photographers who have been active during the last fifty years. Biographies, interviews, narrations edited with archival material allow the spectators to gain insight into the world of art and follow the artists at work in their studies or behind the scenes of major international projects and exhibits. Directors and artists are invited to the Festival to personally present their films.

More information can be found here.

Kindly RSVP here.

VENUE:

Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò
24 W 12th Street
New York, NY 10011
Telephone: (212) 998-8739
casa.italiana@nyu.edu