17 Jan 2018

'a due', Serena Fineschi, Alessandro Scarabello, Hans Op de Beeck at the Oldmasters Museum and the Italian Cultural Institute, Brussels

'a due'. Arte Contemporanea in Italia e Belgio, 1990-2015 ('in twos'. Contemporary Art in Italy and Belgium, 1990-2015), conceived and curated by Laura Viale and Maria Elena Minuto for the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels, is a project that originated from the idea of creating a dialogue between a series of Italian and Belgian artists who have emerged since the 1990s up to the latest generations.

With a cycle of appointments that will continue until the end of 2018, 'a due' hosts exhibitions, performances and encounters that highlight the connexions between artists coming from different cultures, experiences and generations. Each Italian invites a Belgian to exhibit and create a relationship of affinity or contrast.

From November 2015 to June 2017 the following pairs of artists exhibited their works: Davide Bertocchi (Modena, 1969) and Joris Van de Moortel (Ghent, 1983), Enrico Gaido (Turin, 1971) and Freek Wambacq (Brussels, 1978), Margherita Moscardini (Donoratico, 1981) and Futurefarmers (Belgium-USA, collective founded in 1995), Laura Viale (Turin, 1967) and Stijn Cole (Ghent, 1978), Raffaella Crispino (Naples, 1979) and Hans Demeulenaere (Ostend, 1974), Alberto Scodro (Marostica, 1984) and Paul De Vree(Antwerp, 1909-1982).

Since the late Middle Ages, scenes of everyday life, common objects and domestic environments have characterized the figurative culture of the Low Countries. The 'mirror', the 'still life', the 'masks' and the minutely represented 'detail' incarnate obsessions with raw realism. Fascinated by these emblems and iconographies, the artists Fineschi, Scarabello and Op de Beeck open a dialogue in this exhibition with Belgian art and its feeling for the grotesque and the absolute. Presenting a body of works, including paintings, sculptures and videos, the artists reflect on the relentless flow of time, on the reality underlying the appearance of things and on the human condition in all its nuances, ambitions and privations. Hosted by the Italian Institute of Culture in Brussels and the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Rendez-vous reveals a unique view of Northern European imaginary and its history. The exhibition rediscovers ghosts, mysteries and melancholic sensations through an extraordinarily contemporary perspective.




Serena Fineschi (Siena, 1973) lives and works in Siena and Brussels. The artist has exhibited her works in numerous public and private spaces in Italy and abroad including: the Frédéric De Goldschmidt Collection and the Officina in Brussels, Belgium; the Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Raffaele de Grada in San Gimignano, the SMS Complesso Museale Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, the Centro d'Arte Contemporanea Palazzo delle Papesse in Siena, the Corderie dell'Arsenale in Venice (during the 15th Biennial of Architecture, 2016), the Casa Masaccio Arte Contemporanea in San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy.

Alessandro Scarabello (Rome, 1979) lives and works in Brussels. Scarabello holds a BFA from the Fine Arts Academy of Rome and a MFA from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) of Ghent. He has exhibited in several public and private institutions in Italy including: the Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea in Milan (PAC); the Palazzo Collicola in Spoleto; the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. Scarabello has been invited to several biennial events including the Bienal del fine del mundo in South America; the Biennial for Mediterranean Countries in Alexandria, Egypt; the Biennial of Tunis, Tunisia, and the Biennial of young artists in Monza, Italy.
 
Hans Op de Beeck (Turnhout, 1969) lives and works in Brussels and Gooik, Belgium. Op de Beeck has participated in numerous group and solo shows at institutions such us: Venice Biennale, Venice, Hangar Bicocca, Milan, MACRO, Rome, IT; M HKA Museum, Antwerp, BE; Tate Modern, London, GB; Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, GB; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, AT; PS1, New York, MOCA Cleveland, US; MAMBA, Buenos Aires, AR; Singapore Biennale, SG; Shanghai Biennale, CN; Aichi Triennale, and Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, JP.


'a due'. Arte Contemporanea in Italia e Belgio, 1990-2015 is a project by Laura Viale (Turin, 1967), artist and Maria Elena Minuto (Rome, 1981), Ph.D., researcher and art historian. Both currently live and work in Brussels.


With the kind support of:
Renata Fabbri Arte Contemporanea, Milan; The Gallery Apart, Rome; Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Beijing, Les Moulins, Habana.