MAURIZIO CANNAVACCIUOLO

ALL OVER

Curated by Rubina Romanelli

Opening: 17 January, 18:30 – 21

Benci Art | Benci House

Via dei Benci 15, Firenze

Exhibition Dates  18 January – 8 April 2018

The first project of Benci Art is an exhibition of Neapolitan artist Maurizio Cannavacciuolo,  curated by Rubina Romanelli and under the patronage of the city of Florence, which develops in a widespread and pervasive manner throughout the city of Florence. As the title suggests, derived from art and the American critics in the 50’s, All Over consists of heterogeneous sites generally not dedicated to art, thus occupying places of a different nature, in which art and artist interact with them, with who occupies the space and with the audience that attends them. Art is stirred to life through mutual interaction.

The works are spread through Institutions, private and public places, including on this occasion the Department of Oncological Orthopaedics at the Careggi Hospital, the Liceo Artistico di Porta Romana, the BiblioteCaNova Isolotto, the Office of the Minister of Finance at Palazzo Vecchio, the Office of a Lawyer, the office of a psychoanalyst, an antique shop, the home of a collector and the home of the curator. These and other venues of the exhibition are where we rediscover the links between contemporary art and artistic craft, training centres and public and social institutions. The Art finds a public dimension and openness.

The project was developed in an exchange between artist, places and people who work and live in them. In each location, you can find one or at most two works, so that the public can benefit from them fully. A relationship between work and Viewer that becomes biunique, and equal, where one can devote enough time and energy to each individual work. Curiosity, born from having to find  the work in a route throughout the city, contributes to the establishment of this relationship, the use of the work and to the places, which are also rich in content. The title All Over also plays on the ambiguity of meaning, as it means “everywhere”, “anywhere”, “over”, as to indicate a change of course or a break with the past.

Cannavacciuolo is an artist who has been active since the 70’s, established on the international and national scene.  His works are characterized by a dense composition and a bold chromatic texture. He frequently uses stream of consciousness and creates on the canvas a complex network of elements to decode, like in a puzzle. The spectator’s active participation is crucial in the quest for the meaning of the work. His iconographic and conceptual research in horror vacui and humour from the theatre of the absurd often prefers images verging on calligraphic and concepts capable of self destruction. The artist uses a vocabulary of images from multicultural references from which he draws from time to time by creating new compositions, in addition to disturbing and inconsistent elements. Sometimes the paintings are realised in collaboration with the locals, since he has lived in various countries, the last of which being Cuba.

For the window of Moyo, the artist has created a ceramic work with the collaboration of the renowned studio Gatti Ceramiche di Faenza. The work occupies the whole window like a wall, consisting of a mosaic of tiles of various dimensions in which a plait of images launches the viewer into an almost psychedelic journey. Among the many references and quotes by the artist, is included a detail of the façade from Palazzo di Bianca Cappello in Via Maggio, in direct dialogue with the city. If the rest of the works have to be searched out by the spectator, here the viewer is forced to get closer physically to the window in order to be able to construct and understand the images and their meanings, in a playful concatenation, which show themselves and then hide again.  The work can be broken down and each tile can be reinstalled in the future in ever-changing forms, with omissions and additions. This is the first ceramic work of Cannavacciulo.

Maurizio Cannavacciuolo was born in Naples in 1954. In the 70’s he abandoned his architectural studies and began to work as a self- taught artist. His early artistic experiences were with the Gallery of Lucio Amelio in Naples (1979, 1983). From the late 80’s he has completed frequent trips mainly to Southeast Asia and The Americas.  He has exhibited in private galleries and public international institutions including Studio Guenzani In Milan (1993, 1998), Gian Enzo Sperone in Rome (1993, 1997), Sperone Westwater in New York (1996), Fundación Ludwig de Cuba in Habana (1997), Asprey – Jacques (1999) and Sprovieri (2003, 2006, 2009) in London, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston (2004, 1016), Museo de Arte Contemporaneo in Santiago de Chile (2003), Museu da Republica- Galeria Catete in Rio de Janeiro (2002) and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead in the United Kingdom (2005).

EXHIBITION VENUES AND HOURS

FREE ENTRANCE:

BiblioteCaNova Isolotto, Via Chiusi 4/3 A   Monday 14 -19, Tuesday and Thursday 9 – 23, Wednesday and Friday 9 – 19, Saturday 10 – 19    055 710834

Department of Orthopaedic Oncology, Careggi Hospital, CTO  seventh floor,  Monday- Sunday, 13 – 14:30 and 19:30 – 20:30

Window at Moyo, Via dei Benci 23R    24 hour

Casa Wolf, Borgo San Frediano 77/151 R   Monday 15:30 -19:30, from Tuesday to Saturday 9:30 – 13 / 15:30 – 19:30    055 220634

Antique dealer Galleria Ottaviani di Simone Romano, Borgo Ognissanti 36   Monday – Saturday 10- 13 / 16-19. We recommend telephone verification for changes or absences due to participation in fairs   055 2396006

BY APPOINTMENT:

Minister of Finance’s Office, Palazzo Vecchio,  Monday afternoon  055 2768646

Benci House, Via dei Benci 15,  from Monday to Saturday  10 – 18    393 8529081

Gipsoteca, Liceo Artistico di Porta Romana, Piazzale di Porta Romana 9   Wednesday 14:30 – 16:30   by appointment, please email contabilita@artisticoportaromanafirenze.gov.it

Lawyer’s Office, Studio Associato Avv. S. Della Felice e C. Martelli, Piazza della Vittoria 10,    055 282979

Architect’s Studio, Luigi Fragola Architects, Via Palestro 3,  055 212767

Curator’s home, Via Domenico Burchiello,  334 1844875

PRIVATE:

Collector’s home, Via della Torre del Gallo

Collector’s office, Corso Italia

Psychoanalytic studio, Via Santo Spirito

 

For Information on the show:

+39 3341844875

benciart@bencihouse.com

For appointments at Benci House:

+39 393 8529081