Let’s return to Arte Fiera! A friend of mine, a collector, made a remark about the previous article on the Bologna fair, it’s an overview but it doesn’t make clear how the market went. Indeed, it’s not such a clear fact. Speaking with the gallery owners, many seemed enthusiastic but others spoke of a market slowdown. Could it also be due to economic policies that do not support it? It’s no coincidence that, right during the course of Arte Fiera, some of the 74 members of Italics Art staged a protest. They whistled against the approval of the Culture Decree by the Chamber of Deputies because the VAT related to the sales of artworks was not reduced. Therefore, the promises made previously were betrayed, dealing a low blow to the cultural market.
The opinion of an artist on Arte Fiera: Antonello Viola
I confronted an artist, Antonello Viola, represented by Alessandro Casciaro (Bolzano and Venice). This consideration followed: Bologna boasts a heterogeneous market. Many collectors are local but also come from many parts of Italy, perhaps there are few international presences. The atmosphere that was felt during this edition is that of a change in attitude, of a fair in containment. The public was cautious, buying works under 10,000 with care, studying everything in a composed manner. Despite this, the volume of people and income is monstrous according to Viola, if we compare it with fairs like Artissima and Miart.
The artist, for example, sold more than 4 works to collectors from Naples, Rome, Milan, and Bologna, in a price range from 7,500 euros to 15,000.
Now let’s take a closer look at the modern art pavilion. You can find works and stands not only focused on blue chip artists but also on valid emerging artists.
The Modern Pavilion of Arte Fiera, between past and present
At the Galleria Tonelli on Corso Magenta (Milan) stands out Contrappunto Piano, created in 1973 by Fausto Melotti (Rovereto, 1901 – Milan, 1986), for sale at 95,000 euros. A refined work with a title that borders on the world of music, a precious interest for the Trentino artist, related to Luigi Nono (Venice, 1924 – Venice, 1990), an Italian composer and writer, and the pianist and musician Maurizio Pollini. The work Milady, interesting on a compositional level, is a decollage by Mimmo Rotella from 1980.
In this regard, the stand of Elena Del drago, EDDart – gallery in the splendid setting of Palazzo Taverna in Rome -, showcases a solo show of Mimmo Rotella. Paintings like Collage 1956, Galassia 1957 (10,000 euros), Conservate queste figurine! from 1961 (cost 75,000) do not go unnoticed. The stand of Coppetti also immediately captures attention, entirely dedicated to Afro Basaldella with totemic-flavored wooden sculptures.
The photographic exhibition of the gallery Il Ponte
At the stand of the Florentine Il ponte, a path has been sewn that recalls all the photographic exhibitions held in the gallery since its opening in 1965. We find Ulrich Egger, born in the province of Bolzano in 1959, with his photographs that incorporate three-dimensional elements from reality. Pierluigi Fresia, a photographer from Turin, represents suspended situations. Also present are Luca Maria Patella and his wife Rosa Foschi, then three giant polaroid triptychs by Davide Mosconi (an artist coming from advertising graphics). Marina Ballo Charmet, a photographer and child psychotherapist, presents overexposed shots but at the same time with hyper-saturated colors that reflect on paternal relationships: the series “Tatay” translates the word “dad” in Filipino (Tatay #4 is offered at 3,000 euros, a larger print at 6,000).
Lunetta 11 in the modern art pavilion of Arte Fiera
Lunetta 11 (Turin and Alta Langa) boasts a harmonious setup. On one side, the large paintings of Ismaele Nones, son of a Byzantine iconographer, and the works of Giulio Paolini from 2024 (16,000 euros) and 1967 Una Poesia. On the other, new talents. Sara Cortesi, a twenty-five-year-old artist from Bologna who works on organic and nature. She studied in Nice, at the prestigious Villa Arson. She presents a pendulum – Hulahop at 3,000 euros – that reflects on the icon of the palm, a skirt activates its mechanism. The work Margini (10,000 euros), is a set of knives produced with the support of a glassworks in Bolzano. The title and shape refer to the spontaneous plants called wanderers (like couch grass). Furthermore, works by Edoardo Manzoni, raised near Monza (32 years old) and awarded the Fabbri Prize, and by Emma Scarafiotti, video-artist, are present.
The Niccoli gallery with CCH and Nicus Lucà
Next to Lunetta 11, the stand of Marco Niccoli (Parma) with a duo-show. Nicus Lucà, born in Turin in 1961, was a collaborator of Aldo Mondino. A work takes up the iconography of Volo delle streghe by Francisco Goya. The artist passes with pins over the surface of the canvas, revealing the pointed part to the viewer. Thus emerges the sense of danger, the idea of the perforated canvas (à la Fontana) but, at the same time, intact. Art becomes a weapon of destabilization and liberation from dependency. Lucà indeed begins his works in the Turin of the Years of Lead, when drugs were a suffocating plague. Beautiful and disarming is the work inspired by the Angelo caduto by Alexandre Cabanel (22,000 euros). Ogni spillo è NO reinterprets, instead, the Grande NO by Mario Schifano. As Massimo Belli writes in his critical text, “the pins guide us away from the painting to appreciate the whole, replacing the pictorial paste with the metallic combing.”
CCH, born in Livorno in 1968, with Putin Drawings enlarges some doodles made by the Russian president, in a moment of distraction, but not unnoticed by the camera’s eye.
A stylized face, a bird in flight are traced on a sheet while the mind wanders, revealing the “human” side of what seems to be an impassive and ruthless war machine. The stain on the pristine suit, the stress of managing power, the thoughts running behind the “filtered” and official facade. The canvases crossed by cursive words are part of the Suicide Letter series. We read the last words penned by those who chose to end their lives, the “last tactile testimony of their presence.”
ABC – Art of Milan
We enter the stand of ABC – Arte Milano, attracted by the sculpture of Chiara Crepaldi, assistant at the Fondazione Pomodoro. The lightness of the bronze (7,500 euros) and the vibrant way it is worked fits perfectly with the title, Coralli. As we delve deeper, we encounter a painting by Flaminia Veronesi (also represented by Tommaso Calabro), who recently created the windows for Marni in Milan. We are then intrigued by the work of Zé Tepedino (1990), an artist and surfer from Rio de Janeiro. He has exhibited in the most established Brazilian galleries, such as Casa Triângulo (São Paulo) and A Gentil Carioca (Rio de Janeiro). His creative approach starts from the waste and debris left on the beach of Rio, where he has set up his studio. The series Ascençao (compositions made from cuttings of Havaianas flip-flops) is offered at 3,500 euros. The work Corta vento is at 8,500 while Hibisco, the most mature work in terms of form, is at 9,000 euros.
Lithography Bulla and Apalazzo Gallery of Brescia
We stop at the stand of Litografia Bulla, the oldest lithography in Italy still active, founded in Paris in 1818 and moved to Rome in 1840. The headquarters is located right behind Piazza del Popolo and offers precious prints. They have been developed by artists of the caliber of Luigi Ontani, Giosetta Fioroni, Aldo Mondino. We notice a beautiful self-portrait of Roberto De Pinto offered at 1,000.
Apalazzo Gallery of Brescia, by the gallerist Francesca Migliorati, dedicates the stand to the duo Eva and Franco Mattes, noted for their intervention at the Ex Garage Bentivoglio. The sculptures, which reflect on the energy we consume with our smartphones, are offered at 6,500 plus VAT (the smaller ones) and 10,000 (the larger work).
The pictorial delicacy of the Société Interludio stand
The paintings of Sebastiano Impellizzeri from Société Interludio are landscapes with a latent erotic charge. They map Italian places of Battuage-Cruising. Many works start from the study of the urban colors of Milan, like those noted on bus tickets. The retinal memory is imprinted on the canvas. From 1,500 plus VAT for the smaller works, it goes up to 15,000 for a very intimate piece, not exhibited. It exudes a rare emotional nuance. It is Keep smoking, a polyptych of 15 (3 rows of 5) panels. It seems like a pictorial sampling of pink tones. Upon closer inspection, the pink stripes reveal a myriad of Bravo papers (for the drum). It is a dedication to a faded life and a lost love, sealed with a grace that does not require flourishes of words. By leveraging empathy and the conveyed message, it goes straight to the point, like the unforgettable Félix González-Torres. The work was included in the exhibition Se domani non torno brucia tutto.
New Entry to report
At the stand of the Accademia Di Belle Arti di Firenze, we notice the very young Alessandra Mazzari. The story of Barbablù and the seventh wife who manages to free herself from the violence of the uxoricidal is just a narrative device. One can already perceive a fresh painting that has good growth potential. Good first performance at the Bologna fair by the Galleria Richter (Roman) which focuses on two of the most promising artists in its stable. Luca Grechi (Grosseto, 1985) brings large canvases characterized by an unusual palette for the artist. His is a painting of layers, luminous and vibrant. Giulio Catelli (Rome, 1982) starts from the vital experience, from the faces of friends and passersby. Both the places of domestic intimacy and the parks and villas of the capital are portrayed. Catelli manages to capture the flow of contemporaneity, bringing it, however, out of time and space. He seals the poetry of moments with a clear gaze and a painting in the Post-Impressionist wake.
She has collaborated for many years with art magazines such as Artribune, XIBT Contemporary, ArtApp, Insideart and Espoarte, preferring contemporary art in its many facets and media drifts.
