Italy at Frieze is an initiative launched in 2019 to celebrate Italian art in London during Frieze London. Italian galleries participating in the art festival each contribute a work to be displayed at the embassy.
In 2022 fourteen galleries participated in Frieze London and Frieze Masters, and the exhibition of their works at the embassy was entitled “In Piena Crisi: Frontiers of Italian Art“. It was curated by art historian and curator Sofia Gotti of Cambridge University and included a selection of Italian art from the post-war and contemporary periods. The artists whose work was displayed were: Lucia Marcucci (Galleria Frittelli Arte Contemporanea), Mimmo Rotella (Robilant + Voena), Armando Testa (Galleria Continua), Carla Accardi (Tornabuoni Art), Dadamaino (Galerie Knoell), Greta Schödl (Richard Saltoun Gallery), Jem Perucchini (Corvi-Mora), Leonor Fini (Galleria Tommaso Calabro), Francesco Vezzoli (Galleria Franco Noero), Marinella Senatore (Mazzoleni), Adelaide Cioni (P420), Lucia Pescador (Apalazzo Gallery), Giorgio Andreotta Calò (Sprovieri) e Giulio Paolini (Cardi Gallery).
“Italy at Frieze” included a viewing on the evening of 13 October and a series of four talks on contemporary art, organised in collaboration with Illycaffè, which was also celebrating the 30th anniversary of the illy Art Collection.
The first talk, on 12 October, was entitled “Art to Business at Freize: celebrating 30 years of beauty with the illy Art Collection” and was moderated by art consultant and curator Rubina Romanelli, who was in conversation with Carlo Bach, illycaffè’s art director, and Pascale Martine Tayou, who designed the commemorative coffee cups for the 30th anniversary of the brand’s art collection.
The second talk took place on 14 October and was entitled “Art as an asset: Decoding today’s art market“. The event served double duty, also being part of the embassy’s Italy4Innovation series, and focused on art as a commodity and refuge for investments, especially at times of financial instability. The panelists were Pietro Tomassoni, the founder of Artvisor; Alessandro Fiorotto, managing director of Gurr Johns Capital; Alexander Estorick, editor-in-chief of Right Click Save; and Micol Ap, founder and CEO of VerticalCrypto Art. The conversation was moderated by Carolina Mostert, senior specialist writer and project manager at Sotheby’s. The event was made possible by the support of Artvisor.
Another talk was held on the same day, entitled “In piena crisi: Italianity and transnationalism“. The title of the talk was a reference to the title of the exhibition and highlighted the complex matter of national identity and the concept of being defined as “Italian” in a world in which the notion of belonging to a country is a matter of debate. The curator of the exhibition, Sofia Gotti, moderated the conversation with artist Jem Perrucchini and Alessio Antoniolli, director of Gasworks.
On 15 October the fourth and final discussion, “Sisterhood is Still Powerful“, also moderated by Sofia Gotti, featured artist Adelaide Cioni and curator Joana PR Neves and explored the role of women in the world of art.