Artissima, the International Fair of Contemporary Art directed for the second consecutive year by Luigi Fassi, closed with 34,000 visitors in four days. 2023 marked a special edition, which once again brought an explosion of international vitality involving the entire city of Torino.
At its 30th anniversary, Artissima reiterates its approach as an experimental, cutting-edge fair through the production of special initiatives, expanding the event’s potential to attract the most interesting galleries, artists, collectors and curators on the international scene. The edition of 2023, the second one with the patronage of the Ministero della Cultura, capitalizes on years of discovery, research and relations, renovating its commitment on pioneering practices and its role as a launch pad for up-and-coming artists and galleries.
Artissima 2023 presented the four flagship sections of the fair in the spaces of the Oval Lingotto of Torino – Main Section, New Entries, Monologue/Dialogue and Art Spaces & Editions – along with the three curated sections – Disegni, curated by Irina Zucca Alessandrelli, Present Future, curated by Maurin Dietrich and Saim Demircan, Back to the Future, curated by Defne Ayas and Francesco Manacorda – also with coverage on the digital platform Artissima Voice Over, supported by Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo.
For the fourth year, Artissima is produced with the support of Main Partner Intesa Sanpaolo. Starting in the first months of 2023, the fair has added over 1,600 new collectors, including 900 international and 700 Italian participants, confirming its role as a fundamental event on the international art panorama. Artissima has welcomed about 12.000 art professionals, including many curators and directors of museums. A demonstration of the trust and importance that continue to be assigned to this event, also on an international level.
In the words of Luigi Fassi:
“We conclude this 30th edition with the certainty of having achieved very positive results, spreading from the Oval to have an impact on the city at large. We are pleased to have contributed to bring new energy, resources, relations, ideas and proposals to the world of contemporary art, weaving positive and effective relationships with the city’s institutions to create a true network, inside and outside the fair. I am grateful to all those who have generated the success of this edition, which we have imagined as a sort of time machine, capable of bringing further impetus for the future: we have put questions into focus, trying to respond to the urgent necessities of our present, building bridges and relationships, expanding the boundaries of the gaze. Artissima embodies the talent of a laboratory of growth and development for the art of our time, becoming an ideal crossroads for all its protagonists. Our goal has always been to produce an event that derives force from the territory that hosts it, while engaging in a dialogue with the world”.
Highlights
Highlights of the 2023 edition included a body of photographic works by Luca Locatelli, commissioned by Gallerie d’Italia of Intesa Sanpaolo; the New Entries BAR, a project curated by Cripta747 and formulated with the aim of supporting the research of the galleries in the New Entries section and their artists; Artissima Junior, the project by Artissima and Juventus for children from 6 to 11 years of age, who became the protagonists of an immersive creative operation with the artist Eugenio Tibaldi; Beyond Production Symposium, a cycle of studies at OGR Torino brought in-depth reflections on the relationship between new technologies, art and society, alongside Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT; The planetary curator, envisioned and coordinated by the magazine CURA. with the support of Jaguar, conceived as a flow of thinking and discussion on the issue of care to explored the theme of the 2023 edition; the AudioGuides, six thematic audio path to accompany visitors on a personal tour through the stands at the fair, in collaboration with Lauretana and powered by Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo; the multimedia review of cultural research Lucy. Sulla cultura in dialogue with the Brazilian anthropologist Renzo Taddei; the launch of the second edition of the academy for young artists MADE IN, supported by Camera di commercio di Torino; and LaCittaDinAmica, the project envisioned by Jacopo Foggini in dialogue with the company Dott.Gallina.
Artissima extended beyond the boundaries of the Oval Lingotto, with many projects and collaborations activated with public and private institutions and organizations. Among these: the human condition, a project of films and videos by artists created and produced in collaboration with Gallerie d’Italia – Torino; the distributed exhibition Where traces fade away, to rediscover the city through the experience of five works taken from the collection of Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT; the work Nó na Garganta | Knot in the Throat by the Brazilian artist Jonathas de Andrade displayed at the former Zoo of Torino; the group exhibition All These Fleeting Perfections, produced with EXPOSED. Torino Foto Festival at the Alberto Geisser Civic Library; the exhibition Perché non Lilloni? at the ballroom of the historic Principi di Piemonte | UNA Esperienze hotel.
Prizes and acquisitions
Artissima 2023 has organized three prizes for artists and galleries, two honours commemorating outstanding figures in the art world, six initiatives of support for artists and galleries implemented by foundations and institutions or assigned and two funds.
illy Present Future Prize, supported by illycaffè, was assigned to Bekhbaatar Enkhtur, presented by the gallery Matèria, Roma.
VANNI occhiali #artistroom Prize, sponsored by VANNI occhiali, was assigned to Elisa Alberti, presented by the gallery Krobath, Vienna.
Tosetti Value Photography Award, organized by Tosetti Value – II Family office, was assigned to Kiluanji Kia Henda, presented by the gallery Fonti, Napoli.
Matteo Viglietta Award, organized by Collezione La Gaia, was assigned to Igor Grubić, presented by the gallery Laveronica, Modica.
Carol Rama Award, organized by Fondazione Sardi per l’Arte, was assigned to Marwa Arsanios, presented by the gallery mor charpentier, Paris, Bogotà. The jury has also chosen to extend a Special Mention to Fatoş İrwen, represented by Zilberman gallery, Istanbul, Berlin.
Premio Diana Bracco – Imprenditrici ad arte, organized by Fondazione Bracco in collaboration with Fondazione Roberto de Silva e Diana Bracco of Milano, was assigned to Carla Chiarchiaro, who runs Galleria ADA, Roma.
Premio Pista 500, in collaboration with Pinacoteca Agnelli, was assigned to Chalisée Naamani, presented by the gallery Ciaccia Levi, Paris, Milano.
OGR Award, organized by Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, assigned to Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Rebecca Moccia, respectively of the galleries mor charpentier, Paris, Bogotà and Mazzoleni, London, Torino.
Prize “ad occhi chiusi…”, in collaboration with Fondazione Merz, was assigned to Marwa Arsanios, presented by the gallery mor charpentier, Paris, Bogotà.
Prize ISOLA SICILIA, promoted by Fondazione Oelle, was assigned to Caroline Ricca Lee, presented by the gallery HOA, Sao Paolo.
Ettore e Ines Fico Prize, organized by MEF – Museo Ettore Fico, was assigned to Francesca Ferreri and Samuel Nnorom, presented respectively by the galleries Peola Simondi, Torino and Primo Marella, Milano, Lugano.
IDENTITY Fund for New Entries, supported directly by Artissima in the context of the three-year programme IDENTITY, was assigned to the galleries Eugenia Delfini, Roma, HOA, Sao Paolo, and Reservoir, Cape Town.
Furthermore, Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT acquired 12 works by 6 artists for Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea and GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna di Torino.
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Thanks to all our exhibitors and partners.
The 31st edition of Artissima awaits you in 2024!
In the meantime, continue enjoying the atmosphere and works featured at fair, on the Artissima Voice Over platform for the curated sections, with artworks, videos and interviews and in-depth contents; on the online catalogue with artworks by all our exhibitors; and through the AudioGuides, to explore the fair by listening.
