Carrara | 29.07.06

The preparations for the 12th International Sculpture Biennial are under way in Carrara, on the keynote of “La contemporaneità dell’arte” (The contemporary in art). Under the Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic and the sponsorship of Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, sponsored by the Town Council of Carrara, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Carrara and the Cassa di Risparmio di Carrara Spa, the event will be launched in various sites within the town, running from Saturday 29 July until 24 September 2006.

This year’s edition, entrusted to the critical curatorship of Bruno Corà, with the assistance of a Scientific Committee that includes academics and experts in the plastic arts, will feature an array of events designed to give a complete overview of the specific sphere of sculpture, extending well beyond the traditional historical breakdowns and the diversities of aesthetic concept that characterise the major artistic currents.

Alongside the four aces represented by the principal events making up the framework of the 12th Carrara Biennial, “A Biennial for the Museum”, the artistic director has brought together the works of approximately a hundred artists from different countries and different historical periods. The idea is to emphasise how, beyond the epoch and origins of the artists, and also beyond the quality of the materials and the techniques utilised – all significant factors to be taken into consideration – what nevertheless determines the singularity of the plastic expressions has to be ascribed to the concept of space and the linguistic significance highlighted by each artist in his work. From this perspective, the entire 12th edition of the Biennial features the presence of works and artists which contribute to illustrate the diverse aspects of the plastic discipline from a super-temporal viewpoint. These openly contemporary orientations have, among other experiences, recently been explored in the exhibition “Forms for David” (2005), held at the Accademia Gallery in Florence amidst works from different periods, which clearly expressed the topicality of this aesthetic concept.

Within a climate of great dynamism and artistic participation, the four sections of the Biennial conceived for the occasion - “Alveare” (Beehive), “Pre-dizioni” (Pre-dictions), “Opere dai laboratori” (Works from the Workshops) and “Pietro Tacca – an artist, a story, a city” – also launch the opening of the new Sculpture Museum of Carrara (former Convent of San Francesco).

This event in itself – of a scope extending beyond the regional – sets this town on the slopes of the Apuan Alps, historically linked to the ancient marble quarries, which for over a thousand years have been the most important in Italy for industrial and artistic purposes, in a position of absolute prominence at national level.

With the Marble Museum, the works in the Parco della Padula and the Sculpture Museum, Carrara has established itself as a new Tuscan exhibition centre, committing itself to rendering efficacious and functional the long-awaited urban museum system, with positive repercussions as an attraction for tourism and manufacture.

An exemplary contribution to this project is made by the four sections that constitute the new 12th edition of the Sculpture Biennial.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMME

Alveare (Beehive)

Sculpture Museum – former Cloister of San Francesco

Alongside the historical plaster casts of Luigi Bienaimé, François Joseph Bosio, Pierre Cartellier and Christian Daniel Rauch, from the plaster cast gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, are works by Giovanni Anselmo, Marco Bagnoli, Stephan Balkenhol, Bìzhan Bassiri, Bernd e Hilla Becher, Joseph Beuys, Alighiero Boetti, Stefano Bonacci, Pedro Cabrita Reis, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Paolo Canevari, Gianni Caravaggio, Enrico Castellani, Loris Cecchini, Giuseppe Chiari, Dai Hyun Choung, Gino De Dominicis, Jan Dibbets, Diego Esposito, Luciano Fabro, Andrea Fogli, Lucio Fontana, Pietro Fortuna, Marco Gastini, Antonio Gatto, Gilbert & George, Eugenio Giliberti, Antony Gormley, Jusuf Hadžifejzović, Abel Herrero, Paolo Icaro, Karpüseeler, Jannis Kounellis, Wolfgang Laib, Christiane Löhr, Richard Long, Francesco Lo Savio, Piero Manzoni, Robert Mapplethorpe, Gordon Matta Clark, Eliseo Mattiacci, Vittoria Mazzoni, Fernando Melani, Fausto Melotti, Mario Merz, Marisa Merz, Vittorio Messina, Diego Morandini, Klaus Münch, Hidetoshi Nagasawa, Nunzio, Luigi Ontani, Mimmo Paladino, Nakis Panayotidis, Giulio Paolini, Claudio Parmiggiani, Pino Pascali, Vettor Pisani, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jaume Plensa, Luisa Protti, Renato Ranaldi, Giovanni Rizzoli, Chris Sacker, Remo Salvadori, Shigeru Saito, Giuseppe Spagnulo, Ettore Spalletti, Mauro Staccioli, Grazia Toderi, Stefano Tondo, James Turrell, Giuseppe Uncini, Franz West, Eduard Winklhofer, Peter Wüthrich, Yang Jian Ping, Gilberto Zorio.

Pre-dizioni (Pre-dictions)

Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara

Display of works by young artists from seven European Academies of Fine Arts:

- Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara: Sandro Del Pistoia, Matteo Peducci, Francesco Ricci

- Akademia Sztuk Pieknych, Wroclaw: Marta Maria Miarra

- Akademie Výtvarných Uméni V,Praze: Martina Fotrová, Teresa Salabová

- Ecole Supérieure d’Art, Toulon: Adrien Porcu, Mélanie Vilpoux

- Facultad de Bellas Artes - Universidad Politécnica de Valencia: Notequedesfuera (Ester Torá, Fran Orallo, Estela Estupinya, José Zambrano, Helena de la Cruz), Ana Ruiz Sospedra

- Koninklijke Academie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Den Haag: Gudmundur Virgin Karlsson, Michela Pelusio

- Vysoká Škola Výtvarných Umen, Bratislava: Martin Muranica.

Works from the Workshops

In piazza San Francesco installations of marble works originating from various workshops in the territory:

- Apparatus Sculptoris: Krzystof M. Bednarski

- Consorzio Marmo Artistico Carrara

Studio d’Arte Corsanini: Sybille Pasche

- S.G.F. Scultura: Graziano Pompili, Eva Eleonore Sachs

- Statuaria Arte: Yoshin Ogata

- Studi d’Arte Cave Michelangelo: Luciano Massari

- Studi di Scultura Nicoli: César Baldaccini, Asger Jorn, Patty Nicoli, Michelangelo Pistoletto

Pietro Tacca – an artist, a story, a city

Sculpture Museum – former Cloister of San Francesco

Retrospective exhibition devoted to the Mannerist sculptor Pietro Tacca, a native of Carrara, who was active throughout Tuscany and in other European courts, curated by Franca Falletti (24 April - 30 September 2007).

Useful information

12^th International Sculpture Biennial of Carrara

A Biennial for the Museum

La contemporaneità dell’arte (The contemporary in art)

Press preview: Saturday 29 July at 12.00, Sculpture Museum (former Convent of San Francesco) Via Canal del Rio, Carrara

Shuttle bus service from Florence to Carrara

Saturday 29 July departure at 10.00 from Santa Maria Novella station, Piazza Adua (booking essential: tel. 055 2340742)

Inauguration: 29 July 2006 at 18.00, presentation Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, Palco della Musica, Piazza Gramsci; at 18.30 Pre-dizioni (Pre-dictions); at 19.30 Works from the Workshops; at 20.00 Alveare (Beehive)

Sites: ALVEARE (Beehive) Sculpture Museum, former Convent of San Francesco, Via Canal del Rio

OPERE DAI LABORATORI (Works from the Workshops) Piazza San Francesco

PRE-DIZIONI (Pre-dictions) Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, Via Roma 1

Duration: 29 July – 24 September 2006

Opening Hours: July - August 10.30-12.30 / 17.00-23.00; September 10.30-12.30 / 14.30-20.30

Entrance: full price € 5.00; reduced price € 3.00 Cassa di Risparmio di Carrara bank customers, holders of CAT ticket, ACI members, ARTE’ members, COOP members, Touring Club members, groups of a minimum of 10, citizens over 65, students, holders of Carta Cultura Giovani Carrara, visitors with tourist guide.

BIENNALE CARD: created specially for the event, the Card can be collected for the price of the entry ticket to the Carrara Sculpture Museum (Museo della Scultura), the Marble Museum (Museo del Marmo) and from the following tourist information offices: office of Carrara (Stadio), office of Marina di Massa, office of Marina di Carrara, office of Partaccia, office of Area di Servizio San Benedetto Ovest (Mulazzo).

The advantages of the BIENNALE CARD: entrance to the Sculpture Museum, discounts in associated shops and commercial organisations, special menu in the associated restaurants, discount on Carrara City Council summer concert tickets, entrance to the Marble Museum of Carrara, reduced entrance to the exhibition Melotti. Consonanze con Castellani Fabro Paolini (CAMeC, La Spezia).

Information: tel. 0585 71015 - 0585 641394 infocultura@comune.carrara.ms.it

www.labiennaledicarrara.it

Catalogue: Logos, price at the exhibition Euro 30,00

High resolution pictures, access to the press reserved area:

www.labiennaledicarrara.it ,

12th International Sculpture Biennial of Carrara 2007

24 April-30 September 2007

Pietro Tacca - an artist, a story, a city

Sculpture Museum

Former Convent of San Francesco

curated by Franca Falletti

Press Offices

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Stefania Zanieri, Sigma C.S.C. tel. 055 2340742 fax 055 244145 e-mail cscsigma@tin.it