Fondazione Azzurra

at The Santa Monica Museum of Art

September 11-December 4, 2010

Opening Reception: Friday, September 10
6 - 7 pm Members’ Preview
7 - 10 pm Public Opening Party

Libro/Oggetto: Italian Artists’ Books, 1960–Now is a small-format exhibition that will offer viewers a concise history of Italian artistic trends from the 1960s onward by means of a conventionally small-size object: the artists’ book. Libro/Oggetto has been conceived as a complement to the exhibition that will be on view concurrently, Combustione: Alberto Burri and America, a survey of approximately forty major works. Libro/Oggetto will feature pieces from Burri’s colleagues and successors, creating a contextual framework for his production. The exhibition is organized by co-curators Giovanna Zamboni Paulis, independent curator of Italian contemporary art, and Randi Malkin Steinberger, a photographer and independent scholar.

The “book-art object” offers a highly varied medium through which one can see the full range of imagery, language and material embraced by its author. In many instances, in fact, the pieces do not conform to the traditional formal structure of books, or paradoxically to any accepted standard of art objects. Libro/Oggetto will highlight works from artists working in movements as varied as Conceptualism, Arte Povera, and the Transavanguardia, and will include work by such artists as Mirella Bentivoglio, Francesco Clemente, Jannis Kounellis, Bruno Munari, Maurizio Nannucci, and Michelangelo Pistoletto among others.

Among the most recent activities of Fondazione Azzurra, Serata Futurista, held in October 2009, was one of the most outstanding events, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of Italian Futurism, the artistic and cultural movement started by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. This special evening was conceived with the idea of combining different art forms, from the screenings of shorts such as (Amor Pedestre, Excelsior and Vitesse), introduced by Kenneth Turan and Steven Ricci, to a very interesting stage performance with the actors from the Actor’s Gang Theater and Alessia Albani, to a musical performance by the musician Tommy Jordan and his team, to the screening of a video realized by Tommy Jordan and edited by Randi Malkin. The event was tastefully wrapped with a modern interpretation of a futuristic dinner prepared by the legendary chef Evan Kleiman.

Cinema is not the only field of interest for Fondazione Azzurra, but theater, forums and music play another big role as well. In October 2009 the non-profit foundation was a key collaborator in the Franco Battiato concert, held at the Broad Stage Theater in Santa Monica. This event gave the California audience a chance to get to know the refined musical talent of this famous Sicilian songwriter, who also has a deep interest and talent for filmmaking. On this premise “Musikanten”, the second project he directed, was screened for a very curious and engaged audience at the University of Southern California.

Last but not least, Fondazione Azzurra also treated the Los Angeles community to the screening of “Baaria”, the latest cinematic endeavour of Giuseppe Tornatore, which opened the Venice Film Festival two months before in August 2009.