Because of many suns
The CollezioneTaurisano Acquisition Award
Art-o-rama is delighted to present “BECAUSE OF MANY SUNS”, a new Acquisition Award established by CollezioneTaurisano (Naples, Italy) with the intention of supporting emerging artistic practices that present an insightful look into contemporary society.
In uncertain times of social transformation and misguided political action that often leads to division and separation, art can provide a wake-up call for society at large by fostering dialogue between people and providing the tools for imagining new possible ways to (co)-inhabit our planet.
In line with the commitment of CollezioneTaurisano towards art that ignites critical reflection on the dynamics of domination of a Post-Capitalist society, “BECAUSE OF MANY SUNS” will offer recognition to an artist whose practice provides a profound understanding of the time(s) we live in.
While each artistic medium will be equally considered, the selection criteria will take into specific account the artist’s trajectory (primarily focusing on those artists who started exhibiting professionally within the last ten years), and the price of the work presented at Art-o-rama (equal or less than €5000).
According to this, a jury made up of collector Sveva Taurisano and independent curator Carolina Ciuti will first shortlist the candidates and then announce the final recipient of the Acquisition Award at a ceremony to be held on the premises of Art-o-rama.
Alongside the acquisition, CollezioneTaurisano will commission an emerging curator, art writer or researcher to write an essay on the creative practice of the winning artist. The essay will function as a trigger of professional exchange, and as a tool to disseminate the artist’s ideas internationally.
Most importantly, both the artworks selected for the off-line fair (to be held in Marseille between august 27th and september 12nd 2021) and those featured in Art-o-rama’s immaterial salon will be eligible for consideration. in this way, the Collezione Taurisano not only wants to celebrate the work that Art-o-rama has done to adapt to the current situation with the creation of an online proposal different from all others, but also trigger reflection on collecting practices around ephemeral media.
“BECAUSE OF MANY SUNS”
the title as an artwork
CollezioneTaurisano commissioned the title of the Acquisition Award to the transdisciplinary art collective Apparatus 22. The result is an extract from Suprainfinit (Hymn no.3), a piece of poetry where the collective ponders on the notions of generosity, care, and vitality as intensified at a “suprainfinit” level. “BECAUSE OF MANY SUNS” then refers to the award as a ray of sun that nurtures young practices, while it claims for the construction of a more supportive environment for the arts.The graphic incarnation of the Award’s name is devised by Apparatus 22 in collaboration with graphic designer Otilia Fiastru.
CollezioneTaurisano
Founded in Naples (Italy) in the 1970s, CollezioneTaurisano is a contemporary art collection gathering artworks by Italian, European and international artists. Today, the collection is both an art platform and an affective community. It distinguishes itself by its defense of humanist values and esthetics of resistance.
Apparatus 22
Apparatus 22 is a transdisciplinary art collective founded in January 2011 by Erika Olea, Maria Farcas, Dragos Olea together with Ioana Nemes (1979 – 2011). Starting in Bucharest, since 2015 they are active between the Romanian capital, Brussels and the SUPRAINFINIT utopian universe. They see themselves as a collective of daydreamers, researchers, citizens of many realms, poetic activists and (failed) futurologists, interested in exploring the intricate relationships between economy, politics, gender studies, social movements, religion and fashion. Their work has been presented internationally, at La Biennale di Venezia 2013, MUMOK, Vienna (AT), BOZAR – Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels (BE), Museion, Bolzano (IT), Kunsthalle Wien (AT), Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles (BE), Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart (DE), Bucharest (RO), La Triennale di Milano (IT), Ujazdowski Castle – CCA Warsaw (PL), TIME MACHINE BIENNIAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART, D-0 ARK UNDERGROUND, Konji (BIH), Osage Foundation (Hong Kong), Closer Art Centre, Kiev (UA), Steirischer Herbst, Graz (AT), Drodesera Festival, Dro (IT), among others.
Carolina Ciuti
She is an independent curator and currently serves as Artistic Director of the moving image art festival LOOP Barcelona, which she joined in 2015 after completing a Master’s Degree in Contemporary Art at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art (London). At LOOP, she has produced or curated exhibitions, film programmes and performances by artists as different as Aleksandra Mir, Agnes-Meyer Brandis, Malcolm Le Grice, Marianna Simnett, Anton Vidokle and Steina and Woody Vasulka, among others. From 2017 – 2019 she has programmed the LOOP films’ selection for FIAC / Cinéphèmère. She has curated the publications I Have A Friend Who Knows Someone Who Bought a Video Once (LOOP Barcelona, Mousse Publishing, 2016) and Before the name: a book on an itinerant performance project (RAM Editions, May 2018). In 2017 she co-founded CRiB, an art collective that creates hybrid projects between visual arts, performance and theatre.
