Center For Italian Modern Art Announces Spring Programming Line-Up Sponsored By Christie’s

ABOUT CIMA:

Founded in 2013, CIMA is a public non-profit dedicated to presenting modern and contemporary Italian art to international audiences. Through critically acclaimed exhibitions—many of them bringing work to U.S. audiences for the first time—along with a wide variety of public programs and substantial support for a new scholarship awarded through its international fellowship program, CIMA situates Italian modern art in an expansive historic and cultural context, illuminating its continuing relevance to contemporary culture and serving as an incubator of curatorial ideas for larger cultural institutions. CIMA works to add new voices to scholarship on modern Italian art with annual fellowships that open fresh perspectives and new avenues of research. A visit begins with complimentary espresso, followed by an informal exhibition tour with one of the resident fellows. Visitors are welcome to linger for additional viewing and conversation.

ABOUT MARIO SCHIFANO:

Mario Schifano was an Italian artist. Born in Homs, Libya on September 20, 1934, he emigrated with his family to Italy at a young age. Since the beginning of the 1960s, he was immediately recognized as a leading figure in Italian postwar and contemporary art. He is best known for his so-called “monochromes” and the distinctive figurative works often made with a special collage technique combining wrapping paper and industrial pigments, such as enamel. His work often mixed references to low and high culture, popular icons and art history, featuring well-known brand logos or recurring motifs in the vein of Pop Art. American artist Ed Ruscha (1937 -) recalled being put in with the Pop artists in the 1960s and noted that “Mario Schifano painted in that vein too. I felt like we had a common interest in popular culture, which means ordinary things.” Constantly adapting to contemporary culture, Schifano worked in numerous media, shifting between film, music, or photography—often employing more than one at a time. Until his death in Rome on January 26, 1998, aged 63, in the whole trajectory of his life as an artist, Schifano’s work always resonated with major political, social and cultural issues of his time. 

ABOUT FRANCESCO GUZZETTI:

Francesco Guzzetti, Ph.D, holds a doctoral degree in History of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. His field of expertise is postwar and contemporary Italian art, with special focus on the connections with international pop, post-minimalist and conceptual art in the 1960s and the 1970s. Francesco’s research has been supported by various pre and post-doctoral fellowships and grants by institutions like CUNY Graduate Center and the Center for Italian Modern Art in New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Harvard University, and Magazzino Italian Art Foundation in Cold Spring, NY. More recently, he has been the 2019-2020 post-doctoral fellow at the Drawing Institute at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York. He curated exhibitions and published essays on numerous subjects in the history of modern and contemporary art. He published the book Ennio Morlotti e l’arte a Milano 1937-1953(Milan: Scalpendi Editore, 2020) and is currently writing a book about the connections between American and Italian art in the early 1970s.

ABOUT CHRISTIE’S:

Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service, and international expertise. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie’s has conducted the greatest and most celebrated auctions through the centuries providing a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers around 350 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewelry, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s also has a long and successful history conducting Private Sales for clients and online sales are offered year-round across all categories. Christie’s global presence is spread across a network of international salerooms and 61 representatives and offices. Christies.comprovides detailed articles and videos on the objects offered for sale alongside the latest advances in digital viewing tools to make Christie’s accessible to all.