I haven’t gone to Lisson Gallery opening because that day I absolutely wanted to see Basements, the solo show of Massimo Bartolini at Massimo De Carlo gallery.
At one point I landed with my motorbike at the building site of Porta Nuova and Varesine, where there was an amusement luna park and now you can see mastodontic frameworks that will be covered by glass and steel. Luna Park neon sign has been rescued from excavators by the italian artist Patrick Tuttofuoco, who lives in Berlin, has been restored and now you can find it in Ventura district.
P. Tuttofuoco, Luna Park, 2005 Courtesy Pichler/Albanese
In the latest few years, this area has been colonized by galleries, architecture and design studios, the Scuola Politecnica of Design and the base of one of the most important trade magazine, Abitar.
I was saying that at one point I landed among the cranes, I turned right to the Central Station and then to another station, Lambrate’s. I parked in front of Plus Design Gallery, featuring a series of design projects by Fabrica – Fabrica is a good project – and I rushed to Massimo De Carlo. Outdoor there is the gallerist and indoor his guests, who are moving around a bronze sculture that is a solid ground drift. You could climbed the stairs and run up against a blinking floor. It was impossible to enter the room because the whole surface was full of hundreds of lights, typically used in village festivities, laid out on the floor. These ones came from Ficarra, a village near Messina, in Sicily where Bartolini stayed in residence last year. The voice that let them switch on or off belong to don Valentino, a 84-year-old man who installs them every year (we can see in the video).
Massimo Bartolini, Basaments, 2011 Photo: Alessandro Zambianchi Installation view Massimo De Carlo, Milano, 2011Courtesy Massimo De Carlo, Milano
At one point I was famish, I said goodbye to my friends and went home.
At last I went to the Lisson Gallery, in the afternoon. It was a sunny day, so I used my old wrecked bicycle. The gallery is hosted in one of the most beautiful ancient buildings in Milan, the one of Castellini Family, in via Zenale. Few months ago the news that one of the most important international gallery based in London would be landed in Milan surprised everyone. But there is one more reason in addition to what the newspapers reported and it is one again… love. The plase is wonderful, completely white, a well-done redecoration project, a courtyard and a garden absolutely special. The gallery is small, a nice guy who is ending his studies at the Academy of Brera kindly welcome you, he gives you the press release and a list of the artworks on display with complete captions.
Lisson Gallery, Milan
Photo: Andrea Martiradonna
The group show called I know about creative block and I know not to call it by name, is curated by an artist, Ryan Gander
All the artists are represented by the gallery, featuring new works or not. I would write some notes about three: the first one is by the american artist Cory Arcangel who chose to perfume the press release with a spray of Lynx (Lynx is a deodorant). I have noticed it just because the assistant has been talking about it in the garden with a young and kind girl with short hair who would like to be an artist, Alice Ronchi. She was there like me to see the show. The second work is by the english artist Jonathan Monk, who lives and works in Berlin, Pages 232/232. You can see marble headstones in which he curved the letters of the title.The third art work is by the british artist Haroon Mirza who, at the Venice Biennal curated by Bice Curiger, has featured a work that surrounded you, closed off and tickled your ears. He won the Golden Lion.
So, sound and composing are very important for this artist also in Milan.
Haroon Mirza, Automation is Dead, 2011
Photo: Ken Adlard
