Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art
Prato, 28 October - 7 January 2008

Opening 27 October, 6 p.m.

An exhibition produced by the Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art - Prato
Curated by Marco Bazzini

"Nessuna Paura": this is the highly emblematic title of the latest exhibition put on by the Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art, curated by Marco Bazzini. Subtitled: Art From Italy Since 2000.

"Nessuna paura is not an exhibition that aims to bear witness to the dramatic events taking place before our eyes, but rather one which, at least at first sight, may appear very distant from a 'reality' full to the brim with anxiety. It contains nothing of realism although it is solidly anchored to the real, and there is nothing terrifying, nothing of the horror film about it, no story of "ordinary" madness, no direct hint at all of cruelty, violence or death. The works of these artists do not mirror the present, but they are the present inasmuch as they add to all the events now taking place."

Thus it is that Marco Bazzini introduces Nessuna Paura, the latest exhibition presented by the Luigi Pecci Centre in Prato (27 October - 7 January 2008), the result of a choice both lucid and at odds with what has yet been presented by other museums in Italy. It is in fact a clearly personal choice on the part of the curator, presenting a restricted and well-defined picture of the present-day scene in Italian art of the most recent generation: Emanuele Becheri, Luca Bertolo, Rossella Biscotti, Alice Cattaneo, Masbedo, Andrea Mastrovito, Domingo Milella, Paolo Piscitelli. A group of artists who appeared on the scene after the beginning of the new millennium, not connected by any common matrix, but simply by their wish to confront the myths and tragedies of the past and the present.

"What this exhibition aims to do is to protect these artists and their work, to prevent them from 'disappearing' by being forced into categories too narrow for them. I am convinced that works of art should be seen in their entirety, in their many and various forms, and not scattered in inventories or data banks that smack more of the registry office than of individual artistic choices. These artists interest me because I think their work is needed at this present time, and that it is this very historical moment which has conditioned their choices."

The exhibition
Fear is perhaps the emotion most characteristic of present society and perhaps the daily way of thinking of each individual, and it is only by observing the fears of our society that we are enabled to think deeply of the future.
"The more one learns about fear the less it becomes", adds Bazzini. "The greater the knowledge the lesser is the fear. The title of this exhibition does not suggest that you have overcome that fear, but should rather be taken as an attenuation of that real terror that can make you 'not be yourself'. The fear remains, but along with it we must retain the ability to attain a balance between its conflicting and unexpected forces, the ability to create a model that cannot be understood as a simple, rationalistic response, but rather as a mode of behaviour that is continually renewed from situation to situation."
The exhibition follows parallel routes: there is a moment of reflection on the works of these artists (displayed collectively and in individual rooms), brought together on this occasion not by styles or tendencies held in common but because "in these years they have shown that there cannot be only one way of looking at the world". By various ways and means their works propose "ways of reviewing stereotypes, building up the power of dissent in order to escape from what the system expects from us".
The other clue to the understanding of this exhibition is to be found in the last room, where, together with the graphic project of the catalogue designed by Matteo Nannucci, are a series of texts on the subject of fear which the visitor can read right there in the room. These are books (kindly made available to us by the publishers) ranging from sociology to philosophy, concerning the issue of fear and more in general offering tools for the understanding of our times. Among the works on show for the first time in Italy are Insects to Feed by the Masbedos and the complete installation of Il sole splende a Kiev by Rossella Biscotti, the works made specially for this occasion by Andrea Mastrovito, Luca Bertolo and Emanuele Becheri, as well as the first presentation of a video by Alice Cattaneo and work by Paolo Piscitelli. And in addition there is Domingo Milella's debut as an exhibitor in a museum.

The artists of Nessuna paura: some critical notes
"The dark of blindness accepted with a determination that borders on desire by Emanuele Becheri, who has made it the source of his work… The sign leaves no wound upon the paper, and this lack of incision which typifies the drawn line leads us to exclude any dependency on the automatism of irrationality, far too reminiscent of the influence of Surrealism. "Luca Bertolo's works arise from what is controversial and questionable about painting (is it still possible today to wield a paintbrush?) and the fact f his existence in the world but together with his detachment, his ability to do without it. An attitude at the same time of presence and absence, which again marks a watershed in which it is feasible to arrive at the possibility of exploiting something that was not there before.
"More peremptory, within the context of its processes, appears the work of Rossella Biscotti, with her projects of social and archival enquiry. The protagonists of her installations, presented in a subtle, fragmentary form, are the anti-heroes of this society of ours, those who only ask for dignity in work and life, or simply the dignity of memory.
"Subtle and ephemeral is the word for the work of Alice Cattaneo. She seems less interested in reality than in challenging the force of gravity, ignoring precise scientific theories just as they say the hornet does. The sense of wonder that strikes us on seeing her works is the same as comes to us from the unexpected, and from everything that was simply not on the programme.
"The power of the pictorial images projected by the Masbedo duo does not depend on the horror of the primordial, mythical forces which they make their protagonists, but rather of their penchant for beauty. A beauty that results from conflict, which is always some sort of liberation and is born of the contrast between light and dark. The anomalies of our being are presented in this continual display of bodies and situations by means of flashes of light, plunges into darkness: that is what their videos have to tell us.
"Andrea Mastrovito's determination to become part of a less limited scenario forces him to adopt a plot, a narrative. The vision expressed in his paper collages or animated videos enters the mesh of the history of art, of a fantasy Bestiary, of images that have become embodied in our minds, and takes on the appearance of a cheat, a conspiracy, a put-up job. It is his manner of interweaving our lives in a different way.
"Domingo Milella's landscape photographs appear to yield to the rift in reality in order to grasp it as a resource, as a possible entry into the Other. His ability to look beyond the borders and confines of the cities and megalopolises of the world is sustained by his fascination by and disillusionment at their collapse.
"The work of Paolo Piscitelli enquires into the possible dimensions in which experience occurs, and this it does in researches having their beginnings in an obsession with the control of spaces, a situation to which we have adapted ourselves for the very purpose of avoiding danger. A danger that can even be minimal, such as that of stinging nettles that persist in growing in every available crevice but for which we have only one answer: to eliminate them. The stinging nettle, or its silhouette projected into a living space, becomes a symbol of our fear and our awareness of it. "

The catalogue
The exhibition is accompanied by a 164-page catalogue in 21.5x26cm format, published by the Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art and edited by Marco Bazzini. In addition to the editor's own contribution, it contains an article on the most recent generation of artists by Mauro Panzera and interviews with the artists by Marco Bazzini, Mauro Panzera and Stefano Pezzato. The catalogue also includes a pictorial autobiography composed by the artists themselves, amounting to a total of 112 colour photographs. The graphic design is the work of Matteo Nannucci.

Exhibition promoted by:
Regione Toscana
TRA ART rete regionale per l'arte contemporanea
Comune di Prato

With the support of
Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Toscana

and the participation of
ASM SpA, Gruppo Consiag, CariPrato SpA and the Unione Industriale Pratese

The bibliographical section of the exhibition was made possible thanks to the collaboration of:
Bollati Boringhieri Editore, Bompiani, Bruno Mondadori, Carocci Editore, Città Aperta, DeriveApprodi, Editori Laterza, Edizioni ETS, Fazi Editore, Franco Angeli Edizioni, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore, Giulio Einaudi Editore, Il Mulino, Marsilio, Meltemi Editore Mimesis Edizioni, Passigli Editore, Ponte alle Grazie, Raffaello Cortina Editore, Università Bocconi Editore

Open daily 10-19, closed on Tuesdays
Admission: 5 euro (concessions: 4 euro).