I love the gallery
20th-anniversary exhibition
Maja Bajevic
Phil Collins
Martina della Valle
Paola Gaggiotti
Jean-Baptiste Maitre
Elizabeth McAlpine
Marzia Migliora
Margherita Morgantin
Adrian Paci
Jelena Tomašević
Enzo Umbaca
ZAPRUDER filmmakersgroup
exhibition views at Rita Urso artopiagallery, Milan
March 4, 2021 - May 28, 2021
Photos by Riccardo Pasciucco
A show that presents the gallery's activity from its beginnings in 2001 to the most recent years, through a wide selection of works from its collection. Works are set up for the occasion in a collateral space, a workshop of the late 19th century located in the courtyard, destined to become the future gallery’s location.
The title is inspired by the video I love the gallerists and they love me (2001) by Adrian Paci, shown in his first solo exhibition in Milan curated by Edi Muka. In the work, featuring Rita and Remo Urso, the artist's hands interfere to sort of arrange the gallerists’ positions and faces. A refined metaphor for the transformative power of art on the human soul, the video is a significative representation of the evolution of an art gallery as a life path and the act of love towards a profession. For this reason, the work is placed in an autonomous position within the exhibition, both as a starting point and as a conclusion of the exhibition. From the storytelling of works on show, three main thematic sections emerge as the focus of the gallery's program and activity during these years.
The first two parts focus on the way of entering and approaching a place that combines public and domestic space: Artopia for its architectural connotation and proximity to the home of the gallerist and her family was born under the sign of an indissoluble union between intimacy and profession, exhibition and intimate revelation, subverting the stereotype of white cube with the production of site-specific projects that cross over into the home.
Marzia Migliora's exhibition titled In punta di piedi, curated by Emanuela de Cecco, officially opened the gallery space in 2001, simulating an entrance "on tiptoe", “into the home of a stranger, … getting ready to listen”, as the curator points out in the catalog. The exhibition itinerary opens with Marzia Migliora's video artwork 59 passi, then works by Paola Gaggiotti, Margherita Morgantin, Enzo Umbaca, and Martina Della Valle. In the projects designed for the gallery, these Italian artists conceptually deal with the themes of home and identity: they emphasize the need to go beyond our perceptive threshold in order to better understand ourselves and the reality that surrounds us, paying attention to the affections that make up our lives but also reasoning on the alteration of established balances through the introduction of foreign elements.
The second section of I love the gallery is dedicated to Adrian Paci, Maja Bajevic, Phil Collins, and Jelena Tomašević. These artists from the Eastern Balkan area or in any case sensitive to the urgent issues of that region, as in the case of Irish Phil Collins who lived for years in Belgrade, are presented from the gallery in Italy for the first time, with the production of large projects site-specific. In their exhibitions for Artopia, they explore, with a poetic but also socio-political and radical approach, the concept of uprooting, of being split into different spatial and temporal dimensions, without any real sense of belonging: a home is a special place in which to find comfort and take refuge when one feels the need, but it also represents the interior mirror of traumatic situations, the loss of identity and the comparison with new Western models.
The third exhibition part is the result of an expansion of the gallery's program, with the intention of developing an even more dynamic and articulated approach to new languages such as cinema, performance, architecture, and design. Works selected for the occasion are by ZAPRUDER filmmakersgroup, Elizabeth McAlpine and Jean-Baptiste Maitre, all artists who reflect, through the filter of cinematographic language, on the concept of time, on forms that are generated by it and on the relationship between temporality and filmic-photographic image, highlighting effects that cinema produces on contemporary society with an extension of the boundaries of vision and narration. The paradoxical dimension of time in the work of ZAPRUDER filmmakersgroup is approached to the stratigraphic dimension of McAlpine's aniconic image to become a measurable space through frames of Maitre's work. A bilingual publication dedicated to the exhibition will be presented later, with texts by Rita Urso, Remo Urso and Giulia Bortoluzzi, together with images of works on show and archive photos.
Maja Bajevic
Maja Bajevic (Sarajevo, 1967) lives and works in Paris. In her artistic production she analyses the relationship between violence, power and construction of identity, reflecting on the impact that political and social conflicts have on everyday life. She participated in the 50th and 56th Venice Biennale in 2003 and 2015. Her works have been shown in numerous solo exhibitions in international venues including: Migros Museum, Switzerland (2017), Galerie Michel Rein, Paris (2014), James Center, New York (2012), DAAD Gallery, Berlin (2012), Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid (2011), Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich, Switzerland (2011), Kunsthaus Glarus, Switzerland (2009), Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice, Italy (2008), National Gallery of Bosnia & Herzegovina (2006), Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2005), PS1, New York (2004), Artopia Gallery, Milan (2002) with the exhibition Green, Green Grass of Home. Group exhibitions include: 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan (2016), Edel Assanti Gallery, London (2016), Central Exhibition Hall Manege, Moscow, Russia (2015), Museum of Contemporary Art, Krakow, Poland (2015), Centre George Pompidou, Paris (2015), 31st Sao Paulo Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2015), MART- Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Rovereto (2014), The Royal Academy of Arts, London (2010), 11th Venice Architecture Biennale, Venice (2008), Documenta 12, Kassel (2007), Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France (2006), Castel dell'Ovo, Naples (2005).
Phil Collins
Phil Collins (Runcorn, 1970) lives and works in Berlin and Cologne. His work investigates the ambivalent relationship with the camera as an instrument of attraction and manipulation. He received the Paul Hamlyn Prize for Visual Arts in 2001, was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2006 and the Artes Mundi Prize in 2012. His works have been presented in solo exhibitions in venues around the world, including: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2016), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2016), Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Cambridge (2016), Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow (2015), Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin (2014), Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2013), British Film Institute, London (2011), Tramway, Glasgow (2009), Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2008), Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas (2007), Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2007), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2007), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (2006), Tate Britain, London (2006), Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus (2005), Artopia Gallery, Milan (2002) with the exhibition Becoming more like us.
His work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions at institutions such as: Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013), Beirut Art Center, Beirut (2012), Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2011), New Museum, New York (2011), Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2011), Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna (2011), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2010), MoMA PS1, New York (2010), Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2009), Hayward Gallery, London (2005).
Martina della Valle
Martina della Valle (Florence, 1981) lives and works in Berlin. Her work is developed often with different languages and forms, having the shape of photos, video, as also site-specific installations. Her works have been shown in solo exhibitions in various venues including: Palazzina Indiano Arte, Florence (2020), Nordiska Akvarell Museet, Skärhamn (2018), DRYPHOTO arte contemporanea, Prato (2016), METRONOM Gallery, Festival Filosofia, Modena (2015), Italian cultural Institute, Paris (2014), METRONOM Gallery Project Room, Modena (2012), Galerie KUHN, Berlin (2011), Artopia Gallery, Milan (2009, 2007 and 2005) with the exhibitions Blu, Riflessi e Impronte, ex Minerva, Artopia Gallery and MiArt Milano (2009), Bookshop Museo delle Papesse, Siena (2006). Group shows include: Ministero Affari Esteri, Rome (2019), The Koppel Project, London (2019), SpazioS, Milan (2019), NYU Tandon School, New York (2019), Nakata Museum, Onomichi (2018), Acquario Civico, Milan (2018), Galleria Milano, Milan (2011), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Guarene (2009), Jarach Gallery, Venice (2009).
Paola Gaggiotti
Paola Gaggiotti (Vercelli,1966) lives and works in Milan. Her works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in various venues including: Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia, Milan (2015), Spazio Novella Guerra, Imola (2014), Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Raffaele De Grada, San Gimignano (2012), Artopia Gallery, Milan (2001) with the exhibition Volare è piuttosto naturale, Triennale Milan (1999), Villa Medici Rome (1998), De Carlo, Milan (1997), Castello di Rivara, Turin (1996)
Jean-Baptiste Maitre
Jean-Baptiste Maitre (France, 1978) lives and works in Amsterdam. His works use different languages such as cinema and painting. His works have been exhibited in international solo and duo shows including: Martin van Zomeren Gallery, Amsterdam (2020, 2018, 2014, 2011), Stigter van Doesburg Gallery, Zurich (2020), MAMbo Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna, Bologna (2019), Artopia Gallery, Milan (2020, 2018, 2016) with the exhibitions Victor Hugo Was Here, Warning the grape-train has no breaks and Fluid Carrying the Hope of Ships in Distress, PuntWG, Amsterdam (2017), INSTITUT FÜR KUNSTGESCHICHTE, Munich (2016), Galerie 1M3, Lausanne (2013), PiST/// Interdisciplinary Project Space, Istanbul (2012), Centre d'Art La Salle de Bains, Lyon (2012). Group exhibitions include: Centre Pompidou, Paris (2020), American Academy in Rome, Rome (2020), EYE Amsterdam Film Museum, Amsterdam (2016), CCA Glasgow, Glasgow (2015), CCNY Baxter Street, New York (2015), Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, USA (2014).
Elizabeth McAlpine
Elizabeth McAlpine (London, 1973) lives and works in France. Her works exploits the alchemical transformations hidden in photographic processes in order to inhabit the spaces traditionally elided by the image/viewer configuration. Her works have been shown in solo exhibitions in international venues including: Laura Bartlett Gallery, London (2017), Rita Urso Artopia Gallery, Milan (2016) with the exhibition cinematic sediments, Laurel Gitlen Gallery, New York (2015), Reg Vardy Gallery, University of Sunderland, AV Festival (2012), Eastside Projects, Birmingham (2010), Art Statements, Art Basel (2010), SPACEX, Exeter (2007). Her work has been presented in group exhibitions at numerous institutions including: Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome (2016), The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2016), Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg (2016), School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2016), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2013), Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Australia (2013), Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne (2012), Spike Island, London (2012), The Barbican, London (2010), Kadist Foundation, Paris (2009), DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts (2012).
Marzia Migliora
Marzia Migliora (Alessandria, 1972) lives and works in Turin. She uses a wide range of media in her artistic research, including photography, video, sound, performance, installation and drawing. Her works have been exhibited in international venues, including the Venice Biennale, Italian Pavilion in 2015 and in solo exhibitions including: Museo Maga, Gallarate (2020), Palazzo Branciforte, Palermo (2018), Ca' Rezzonico - Museo del Settecento Veneziano (2017), Galleria Lia Rumma, Milan (2016), Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome (2014), Fondazione G.O.C.A. Palermo, Palermo (2013), EX3 - Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea, Florence (2011), Galleria Lia Rumma, Naples (2010), Art Agents Gallery, Hamburg (2008), Fondazione Merz, Turin (2006), FACT The Foundation for Art & Creative Technology, Liverpool-UK (2005), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (2004), Artopia Gallery, Milan (2001) with the exhibition In punta di piedi. Group shows in which she has participated include: Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Turin (2020), Serlachius Museums, Mänttä (2019), XVI Quadriennale d'Arte, Palazzo delle RITAURSO | via Lazzaro Papi 2 | 20135 Milano | t +39 02 5460582 | artopiagallery.net | info@artopiagallery.net Esposizioni, Rome (2016), Fondazione Prada, Milan (2016), Museo MAXXI, Rome (2012), Museo Novecento, Milan (2011), MART, Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rovereto (2004).
Margherita Morgantin
Margherita Morgantin (Venice, 1971) lives and works in Milan. Her work is articulated in different languages that range from drawing to text to performance. Italian and international venues where she has exhibited her works in solo shows include: Museo del 900, Milan (2019), Beatrice Burati Anderson Art Space and Gallery, Venice (2017), German Centre for Contemporary Art in Villa Romana, Florence (2017), German Centre for Contemporary Art in Villa Romana, Florence (2017), Libreria delle Donne, Milan (2016), Galleria Continua, San Gimignano (2013), Museo della Città di Bologna (2012), Contemporaneact, Bxl, Brussels (2010), Galleria Civica del Contemporaneo, Mestre (2009), Artopia Gallery, Milan (2001) with the exhibition Osservare le norme di sicurezza. Among group exhibitions: Museion, Bolzano (2019), Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan (2019), Biennolo, Spazio ex Cova, Milan (2019), Palazzo Archinto, Milan (2017), Basilica Palladiana, Vicenza (2017), Centquatre, Paris (2015), Museo di Villa Croce, Genoa (2015), Museo di Palazzo Pretorio, Prato (2015), Seoul Art Center, Korea (2014), PAC, Milan (2014), MAMbo, Bologna (2013), Hangar Bicocca, Milan (2011), MOCA, Shanghai, China (2010), Italian Institute of Culture in Istanbul, Turkye (2010).
Adrian Paci
Adrian Paci (Shkoder, 1969) lives and works in Milan. His self-referential work often deals with the theme of displacement and loss, trauma of separation and nostalgia of migrants. He participated in the 48th and 51st Venice Biennale of Visual Arts in 1999 and 2005. His works have been presented in numerous international solo exhibitions: Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich (2020), Kunsthalle Krems, Austria (2019), Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburger, Austria (2019), Brigham Young University Museum of Art, New York (2018), Museo Novecento, Florence (2017), Kaufmann Repetto, Milan (2017), Kaufmann Repetto, New York (2015), MAXXI, Rome (2015), Musée d'Art Contemporain, Montréal (2014), Galeries Nationales du Jeu de Paume, Paris (2013), Kunsthaus Zurich (2010), Kunstverein, Hannover (2008), CCA, Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv (2008), Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2005), Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, GAMeC, Bergamo (2002), Artopia Gallery, Milan (2001) with the exhibition Home Sweet Home. Among group exhibitions: Triennale Milano, Milan (2020), Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Milan (2019), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome (2017), Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary (2016), 14th Venice Architecture Biennale (2014), ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany (2011), Kunsthaus Graz (2009), MART, Rovereto (2009), Quadriennale di Roma (2008), Tate Modern, London (2008), Power Plant, Toronto (2007), PS1, New York (2007).
Jelena Tomašević
Jelena Tomašević (Podgorica, 1974) lives and works between Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Cetijie, Montenegro. She represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 51st Venice Art Biennale in 2005. In 2017 she won the 23rd edition of the Onufri Prize, at the National Gallery in Tirana, Albania. Her work has been shown in several museum institutions in solo exhibitions including: Artopia Gallery, Milan (2019, 2010 and 2007) with the exhibitions Just kidding, Apparent servitude and Mixed Memories, Galerie Perpetuel, Frankfurt, Germany (2016), Handel Street Projects, London (2016), Residency Unlimited,New York, USA (2013), Galerie Herrenhausen, Hannover, Germany (2010), Centre for Contemporary Art, Podgorica, Montenegro (2010), Gallery Thrust Projects, New York (2008), Galerie Conrads, Düsseldorf, Germany (2007). She has also taken part in group exhibitions in various international venues including: Whitebox Art Center, New York, USA (2020), National Museum of Montenegro (2019), Pera Museum, Istanbul (2016), Fondazione Museo Pino Pascali, Polignano a Mare, Italy (2015), Kunstalle Fredricianum, Kassel, Germany (2005), 9th International Istanbul Biennial (2005).
Enzo Umbaca
Enzo Umbaca (Caulonia, 1964) lives and works in Milan. His artistic research is developed through languages ranging from video to photography and performance. His works have been shown in solo exhibitions in various venues including: RISS(E), Varese (2019), Ciocca Arte Contemporanea, Milan (2016), Fondazione Farmacia Wurmkos, Sesto S. Giovanni, Milan (2015), Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Locri, Reggio Calabria (2013), Artecontemporanea Bruxelles, Belgium (2010), Galleria Sogospatty, Rome (2004), Artopia Gallery, Milan (2002) with the exhibition Iuol never uolc alon, Galleria Placentia Arte, Piacenza (2002). Among group exhibitions: Fondazione Palazzo Magnani, Reggio Emilia (2019), Museo del Novecento, Milan (2019), Palazzo Ajutamicristo Palermo (2018), Terzopiano Artecontemporanea, Lucca (2018), Goldi-Redaelli Palazzo Archinto, Milan (2017), Triennale Milano (2016), Museo MAGA Gallarate, Milan (2014), Kunsthalle São Paulo, Brazil (2013), Città dell' Arte-Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella (2012), Galleria Bianconi, Milan (2012), GAMeC, Bergamo (2011), Casa Masaccio, San Giovanni Valdarno, Arezzo (2011), Center for Contemporary Art Plovdiv, Bulgaria (2010), Musèe d'Art Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon (2009), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (2007).
ZAPRUDER filmmakersgroup
ZAPRUDER filmmakersgroup is a collective founded in 2000 by producers, authors and directors David Zamagni (Rimini, 1971), Nadia Ranocchi (Rimini, 1973) and cinematographer Monaldo Moretti (Recanati, 1972), based in Roncofreddo and dedicated to the exploration of the moving image on set and to the post-production of Zapruder film projects.
Among the awards received: Italian Council VIII (2020), MAXXI Prize for Contemporary Art (2016), Persol 3D Prize 68th Venice International Film Festival (2011). Among the festivals and exhibitions where the group's films and works have been presented are: Berlinale, Biennale Cinema Venice, Film Festival Rotterdam, Rome International Film Festival, Milano Film Festival, Biennale de l'Image en Mouvement Genève, Transmediale Berlin, Netmage Bologna, Miart Milan, Rita Urso Artopia Gallery, Milan (2015, with the exhibition Fault), Lo schermo dell'Arte, Filmmaker Festival, Viennale, Museo MAXXI Roma, Steirischer Herbst Graz, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Gucci Garden, Art Fall Ferrara, Quadriennale d'arte Roma, Centre Pompidou Paris, PAC Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea Milano, Santarcangelo Festival, Live Arts Week Bologna.