Two Generations of Artists Compared, Nineteenth Century Contemporary

Galleria Bottegantica, Milano

Three young artists, Lorenzo Fabietti, Ignazio Giordano and Arianna Tosi, reinterpret, in a contemporary key, three masterpieces by Giovanni Boldini, Guglielmo Ciardi and Antonio Mancini. As exponents of the next generation, these artists are selected by the critic Valerio Mazzetti Rossi and form an experimental art movement that will be presented, in the form of a poster, on the day of the opening.

The exhibition Ottocento Contemporaneo was born from the conviction that it would be rash to plan the future without firstly understanding the past. Due generazioni di artisti a confronto (Nineteenth Century Contemporary: Two Generations of Artists Compared) researches the potentialities of the interpretations and the differences of two generations very different and distant from each other.

The works exhibited in the preview are the result of reflections on the relativity of matter (Mancini), of the individual (Boldini) and of nature (Guglielmo Ciardi). Together, they investigate the possibility of evoking the models of the past, giving them new life and current forms. In order to make this temporal link clearer and more explicit, the exhibition - curated by Enzo Savoia and Valerio Mazzetti Rossi - will include nineteenth-century works, their contemporary interpretations, and a painting by each of the three contemporary artists.

The spectator will thus be encouraged to reflect upon the concept of 'continuity' in art, albeit in its relativity, of experiencing how subjective the terms of yesterday and tomorrow are, annulling – at least for a brief period of time - comparisons and prejudices in order to contemplate the future of the history of art. Visitors will also have the opportunity to objectively evaluate the value of past and present works, aware that taste and aesthetics are essential variables of every period and society.