Exhibition invites nternational artists to dialogue with Giorgio de Chirico's House-museum

Exhibition invites nternational artists to dialogue with Giorgio de Chirico's House-museum

Martino Gamper.

ROME.- On Friday January 27th, the exhibition-project D'après Giorgio, conceived and curated by Luca Lo Pinto opeened at House-museum Giorgio e Isa de Chirico. Several Italian and international artists of different generations were invited to dialogue with the works, the objects and the architecture of Giorgio de Chirico's House-museum. The show evolves within the space of a year and involves artists intentionally heterogeneous in their generation, poetics and stylistic research: Alek O., Darren Bader, Nina Beier, Carola Bonfili, Benny Chirco, Giulio Frigo, Martino Gamper, Paul Armand Gette, Mino Maccari, Tobias Madison & Kaspar Müller, Marcello Maloberti, Carlo Mollino, Momus, Olaf Nicolai, Henrik Olesen, Luigi Ontani, Nicola Pecoraro, Emilio Prini, Dan Rees, Izet Sheshivari, Alexandre Singh, John Stezaker, Luca Trevisani, Luca Vitone, Raphäel Zarka, and upcoming guests. The exhibited works—installations, paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs—are realized specifically for the suggestive spaces of the house where de Chirico had lived in the last thirty years of his life, situated on the top three floors of the 17th century Palazzetto dei Borgognoni, in the centre of what was considered the cultural and artistic centre of the city since XVII century. Like other famous house museums like the Mario Praz Museum, the Soane Museum and the Freud Museum, also de Chirico's house stimulates and brings into play concepts such as portrait, memory, collection, public/private. Whereas on one hand the pictorial, graphic and sculptural works witness de Chirico's lively artistic activity, on the other hand the decoration and the objects in the house reveal his more intimate and personal side. In such a context the artists have been invited to contribute with non-invasive works, which are able to dialogue with the space by merging with it, with the intention to create various and multiple levels, narrative and interpretative. "D'après Giorgio intends to create a second level of interpretation of the house for people who come here and offer a new perspective on de Chirico's figure, thanks to a dialogue with contemporary artists"—explains Luca Lo Pinto—"The title of the show refers to the famous 'd'après' of de Chirico himself and is a way of paying homage to a key figure of the twentieth century avant-garde whose influence on the younger generations still keeps up today. At the same time the exhibition is an opportunity to introduce the house/museum to a wider public. The idea is to create a long story where the art works function as chapters in order to produce a narration at the same time expanded and frenetic, didactic and evasive, intimate and conceptual." Not all the works are presented at the opening at once, there will be several phases: in the course of/ during the year new works by new artists will be added, the result will be a "museum within a museum" in the making. The visitors are accompanied by a person in charge of the institution, who illustrates the house and the project, creating with an own interpretation a further narrative level. In occasion of the show Momus has realized an audio work, which functions as a soundtrack. During the year several critics, curators and artists will be invited to guide the public, by giving their own interpretation of the show. Among others Laura Cherubini, Stefano Chiodi, Ester Coen, Andrea Cortellessa, Cristiana Perrella, Bartolomeo Pietromarchi, Ludovico Pratesi, Francesco Stocchi. An opportunity to think about the interpretative processes and the procedures of different people of looking at the same object, in this case an exhibition. In occasion of the show the staff of the museum wear uniforms especially designed by designer Julia Frommel. Moreover for the whole project for the first time there will be presented to the public a series of photographs of the foundation's archive. http://www.fondazionedechirico.org/en/Photo%20Gallery