Exhibit shows Italian art is more than just the Renaissance

When it comes to Italian art, historically significant eras like the Renaissance or the Baroque are often first to come to mind. But how many people would call themselves familiar with the boot-shaped peninsula’s modern and contemporary art? “Of...

Michelangelo Pistoletto’s bronze sculpture “L’Etrusco” (1976) with Domenico Bianchi’s wax on fiberglass piece “Untitled” (2022) [ART SONJE CENTER]

When it comes to Italian art, historically significant eras like the Renaissance or the Baroque are often first to come to mind. But how many people would call themselves familiar with the boot-shaped peninsula’s modern and contemporary art?

“Of course Italian culture did not stop at the Renaissance; It moved on as it always does,” said Alessandro De Pedys, Director General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy. “The artistic creativity keeps moving on. They reflect cultural and social changes. Indeed, in some cases, they are at the roots of these changes.”

It became Italy’s mission to showcase the identity of Italian modern and contemporary art to the world — “both in its content and its objective,” De Pedys said — in order to renew its artistic production and deviate from being confined to past styles.

″Disco Solare″ (1989) by Arnaldo Pomodoro [ART SONJE CENTER]

The exhibition “The Grand Italian Vision. The Farnesina Collection,” which is a selection of 72 Italian artworks from the 20th and 21st centuries, has been co-organized by the Embassy of Italy in Seoul, the Italian Cultural Institute in Seoul, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy and Art Sonje Center.

Curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, a renowned Italian art critic, the show kicked off Saturday at the Art Sonje Center in Jongno District, central Seoul.

The Farnesina Collection, or the Collezione Farnesina in Italian, is an Italian art collection housed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Rome. It includes over 1,200 pieces of art from the Italiano Novecento (an Italian art movement from the 1900s), Futurism, Surrealism and Transavantgarde (the Italian version of Neo-expressionism).

It all started toward the end of the 20th century, when the ministry building was not as artsy as it is now.

″Untitled″ (1990s) by Sandro Chia [ART SONJE CENTER]

Ambassador Umberto Vattani, who is also the President of Venice International University, recalled in a previous interview that back in 1999, “we decided to revolutionize the overall image of the ministry, so that it would become a symbol of contemporary Italy.”

Due to an insufficient budget, the ministry began a loan agreement, in which the artworks would remain the property of their rightful owners and would not permanently occupy the spaces of the ministry, yet would be “in constant evolution.”

The collection is unprecedented, according to Vattani, in that no other ministry in Italy had ever acquired such a wide range of artworks to arrange inside its buildings.

The artworks from the Farnesina Collection have now made their debut in Korea, and it is the fourth stop of the show’s tour following Tokyo, New Delhi and Singapore, all of which are capital cities that are “diplomatically important” to Italy, De Pedys stressed.

″Giove e Antiope″ (2016-21) by Giulio Paolini [ART SONJE CENTER]

It’s not the first time Italy has made efforts to promote its culture in Korea. During the 14th Gwangju Biennale earlier this year, the Italian Pavilion was inaugurated for the first time ever. In the five-story High Street Italia building in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, the Italian Trade Agency regularly holds exhibitions and workshops and also operates an Italian-themed store.

Next year, the two countries will also celebrate 140 years of bilateral relations.

Curator Bonito Oliva organized the pieces by thematic criteria rather than chronological order.

One of four pictures from ″Mediterraneo″ (1990-95) by Mimmo Jodice [ART SONJE CENTER]

“One interesting aspect of Italian contemporary art is that it is much richer and more diverse in expression and techniques than those of other countries,” Bonito Oliva said in a press conference at the museum last Thursday.

“By diverse, I mean that they are characterized by stylistic eclecticism and iconography. These transcend genres like paintings or sculptures and are not confined to a single genre or style, allowing art to spread its wings freely and infinitely." He continued, "This is exactly what Italian contemporary artworks are proving.”

During the press tour, the Italian officials collectively emphasized that it was not the meaning or intention behind each and every single piece that was important; it was immersing visitors in the visuals and the interaction with the artworks.

Marino Marini’s horse statue “Cavallo” (1945) in front of Getulio Alviani’s aluminium piece “Superficie a testura vibratile” (1965), left, and Grazia Varisco’s “Quadri comunicanti” (2008) [ART SONJE CENTER]

Visitors will be able to look at works like bronze sculptures of Umberto Boccioni’s “Unique Forms of Continuity in Space” (1913) and Michelangelo Pistoletto’s “L’Etrusco” (1976), the black-and-white photographs of Mimmo Jodice’s “Mediterraneo” (1990-95) and Giulio Paolini’s canvas piece “Giove e Antiope” (2016-21).

Despite lacking a straightforward narrative, the ebb and flow of the works that once shared a space inside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy is a surefire way to understand how Italian art has made its transformation throughout the generations.

“The Grand Italian Vision. The Farnesina Collection” continues until Aug. 20. Art Sonje Center is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets range from 5,000 won ($3.90) to 10,000 won.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]