The Embassy of Italy in London hosted Italy at Frieze, an initiative launched in 2019 to celebrate and promote Italian art in London during Frieze week. Nineteen galleries participating in Frieze London and Frieze Masters each exhibited a post-war or contemporary Italian work at the Embassy. The exhibition/reception Italy at Frieze, which is part of the programme available to Frieze members, was held on 14th October from 19.00 until 22.30. This year’s programme included two additional events on 15 October at the Embassy.
Italy at Frieze this year was also part of Italy4art, a programme of Embassy events about art, culture and innovation taking place in the week of 11th October. The Italy4Art programme began with the opening of the all-Italian space of the Start Fair at Saatchi Gallery and concluded with Italian Design Day dedicated to the legacy in Italian contemporary design of Gio Ponti, in collaboration with Taschen.
The Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom, Raffaele Trombetta, said: “In this period, in which we try and (re)establish contacts amongst people and culture, the immediacy and efficacy of the language of the Arts comes to our aid. Italian artists know how to add the capacity to express oneself to a variety of codes and techniques, thereby bringing out the best of the Italian creative spirit. We are delighted to once more celebrate Italian art in person during Frieze week, when London is at the centre of the global art scene.”
Italy at Frieze, dedicated to the theme “A view from London: Perspectives on Italian Art” was once again curated by Dr. Flavia Frigeri, who, working closely with the participating galleries, selected nineteen works by modern and contemporary artists. “As a curator living and working in London for many years, I wanted to create a bridge between Italy and the UK, presenting a selection of works that express the artistic vision of the great postwar Italian masters, alongside the most important contemporary artists,” said Dr. Frigeri.
On the morning of 15th October, the Embassy hosted a breakfast talk on the theme of this year’s edition, entitled “A View from London. Perspectives on Italian Contemporary Art” with the artist Gaia Fugazza, the writer and artistic director of In Between Film/Art, Alessandro Rabottini, and Flavia Frigeri, art historian and curator.
A special edition of Italy4Innovation, the Embassy’s series on innovation and technological cooperation between Italy and the UK, washeld in the afternoon of the 15th. The event considered the revolution in art driven by digitalisation, particularly blockchain. Artworks made and marketed as non-fungible tokens have recently become one of the most debated themes in the art world, and some pieces have reached values in the millions. This will be discussed by art critics, artists, technology experts, galleries and auction houses, in a conversation which examined the phenomenon through various lenses: commercial, artistic, technological and social.
Italy at Frieze 2021 programme
14 October 2021, 19:00 –22.30: Italy at Frieze exhibition
15 October 2021, 9:30 – 11:00: breakfast talk on “A view from London: Perspectives on Italian contemporary art”.
15 October 2021, 16:30: Italy4Innovation panel discussion on non-fungible tokens, and cocktail reception.
Participating galleries and their selected artists
Cardi Gallery – Paolo Canevari
Galleria Continua – Giovanni Ozzola
Herald St – Francis Offman
Lévy Gorvy – Enrico Castellani
Lisson Gallery – Antonio Calderara
Luxembourg + Co. – Rodolfo Aricò
ML Fine Art – Matteo Lampertico – Giuseppe Capogrossi
Galerie Max Hetzler – Giulia Andreani
Mazzoleni – Andrea Francolino
P420 – Riccardo Baruzzi
Repetto Gallery – Franca Sonnino
Richard Saltoun Gallery – Gaia Fugazza
Robilant+Voena – Mario Schifano
Ronchini – Luigi Boille
Simon Lee Gallery – Claudio Parmiggiani
SpazioA – Santi Alleruzzo
Thaddaeus Ropac – Emilio Vedova
Galleria d’Arte Tommaso Calabro – Remo Bianco
Tornabuoni Art – Francesca Pasquali