My Italian Link - Issue #09 My Italian Link Issue #09 | Page 52

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C U LT U R E
THE PRIMITIVE BOHEMIAN
Between the 20 th  June and the 4 th  November 2018, MUDEC will host the
masterpieces of an Italian cult artist in the Modigliani Art Experience ex-
hibition.
Amedeo Modigliani was an artist, explorer and narrator. His life and
artwork represent the 19 th -century man’s dive into modernity. Modigliani
discovers the self and the other in a millenary journey across cultures. In
his work, reflections of Classical Europe and tribal features of Africa in-
tertwine to portray modern individualism and bohemian lifestyle.
"Modigliani was stateless and cosmopolitan at the same time – he had no
roots. He was both Italian and French, but mostly he aimed towards the
timeless empyrean of ideas. The purity of his images and of his thought
balanced the dissipation of existence," explains Francesco Poli, curator of
Modigliani Art Experience at MUDEC.
The exhibition exalts Modigliani’s quest for cultural eternity, displaying
some of his most acclaimed artwork next to the crafts which inspired it.
The ‘Shrine’ Room introduces the visitors to historical and traditional
crafts from North and West Africa. The ‘Experience Room’ gathers Mo-
digliani’s works in a 360-degree dialogue between the author and the
audience. Lastly, the ‘Infinity Room’ explores the forefront of visual arts
using mirrors and laser projectors to deconstruct Modigliani’s paintings.
The motif of the exhibition is Modigliani’s life. The installations guide the
audience through his artistic formation in Livorno and his adulthood in
Montmartre and Montparnasse, Paris. In France, Modigliani experiments
on primitivism and interacts with thinkers such as Pablo Picasso and
Jean Cocteau. The tale of his life and work ends abruptly in Nice, where
the artist died of tuberculosis in the aftermath of World War I.
UP NEXT: HEROES AND VANGUARD ARTISTS
MUDEC’s  2018-19 offering features an intriguing variety
of exhibitions by local and international artists.
Between 27 th   September  2018 and 10 th   February  2019,
Capitani Coraggiosi (Brave Captains) describes the fur-
thest frontiers of contemporary exploration. Photos,
videos and authentic objects depict the conquest of
mountain peaks, space, oceanic depths and deep caves.
Paul Klee e il Primitivismo (Paul Klee and Primitivism)
will run between 31 st   October2018 and 3 rd March2019.
The exhibition is a retrospective of the German-Swiss
artist and analyses his relationship with ancient, classi-
cal and tribal arts.
Contemporary art finds a new definition in Bansky’s graffiti.
His controversial work spites power, war and consumerism.
The exhibition Bansky (20 th   November  2018  -  14 th   April 
2019) gathers the stencils of the mysterious artist from
Bristol and credits the rising reality of street arts.
Courtesy of MUDEC Museum.
©Photos Oskar Da Riz for Stahlbau Pichler.
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