CoBo Social has published my interview with Indonesian artist and member of MES56 Jim Allen Abel, also known as Jimbo. I interviewed him in Singapore during Art Stage 2017 and he shared about his background and art practice.
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Cobo has just published my interview with Singaporean artist Jeremy Sharma, titled: “Artists As The Arbiter of Knowledge in The Information Era”.
We did the interview in Rome, in a cafè near Via di Ripetta, after a bit of walking around that side of the Eternal City, and talked about his residency at the Stelva Foundation, in Desenzano del Garda, and his art practice in general.
Here is the link to the interview
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As I’m running around Singapore collecting interviews, attending vernissages and getting lost in shopping malls, Escape – the Sunday magazine of the Times of Malta – has just published my interview with Elizabeth Pisani author of the travelogue “Indonesia etc.” (the Italian version was published here).
Here is the link for the interview
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First published article for 2017 – and what better way to kick off the year than an interview with Montreal-based Indonesian artist Ari Bayuaji – for the webmagazine CoBo!
Here’s the link to the interview
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It should written of the information leaflet, like the one you find in medicine boxes: long term exposure to contemporary art changes your way of thinking. It gives you a complexity of thinking and variety of perspective on issues, which is extremely important. For example, the work of Palestinian artists Khalil Rabah – especially his “Palestinian Museum of Natural History and Humankind” is one that urges people re-consider reality in other terms – especially because here the boundaries between artwork and actual history-making institution are really thin. It was a privilege to have the chance to interview him for Middle East Monitor, after having seen his work at MACRO Museum in Rome.
Here’s the link to the interview
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Since I have started writing about contemporary art for magazine – around 2007 – I have collected a number of interviews. Some have been published straight away, others have been used later on as sources for articles or in books. Then there are all the others that have never been published, and are part of my personal archive, informing every word I write.
Every now and then, I decide to pull an interview out of the archive, like this one with Richard Streitmatter-Tran, who I have met and interviewed first in Paris at the Palais de Tokyo, then in Rome, where he was attending a sculpture workshop. The new art magazine I’m collaborating with, D/Railed by Deianira Tolema, was the perfect home for the piece.
Here’s the link to the interview
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Escape, the Sunday magazine of the Times of Malta, has just published my interview to the Green Root Lab, an artistic collective of two, devoted to environmental activism through contemporary art.
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Thanks to the amazing CoBo, little by little I’m getting to interview all my favorite contemporary artists! This time I chatted with Arahmaiani, a legend and a model of badassery in contemporary art and in life. The piece is called: “The Superheroine of Indonesian Contemporary Art”.
I have interviewed her for her new show at Tyler Rollins in New York, from September 15 to October 29. We talked about many different subjects, but the aspect I decided to focus on for the piece was her shift from criticism to activism in her work.
Since I first started researching Indonesian art, the political and social aspect of the art was the one that struck me the most. Over time I have asked artists if it is really possible to have an impact on society with contemporary art alone. Overall, Indonesian artists seemed to me much less romantic and much more hands-on compared to some of their European counterparts.
Hong Kong-based magazine CoBo has just published my interview with Norwegian art collector and adventurer Erling Kagge. There is a line of the interview that is applicable well beyond collecting, and definitely struck a chord with me: “To be an art collector you must be obsessed. It is beyond rationality and there is a bit of insanity in it. Many people have hobbies, they might collect stamps or cars. I personally don’t have hobbies, for me both expeditions, art collecting and publishing are different aspects of the same thing called “lifestyle”. I’m all in and I don’t set boundaries between my private life, my life as a collector, or as an explorer.”
I believe that this concept of “being all in” for the things you love, is what ultimately leads to a beautiful life. For me personally this state can be find in the technique; whether it is writing, the martial arts or creating stories. But it can also translate in simply deeply listening to a friend when he’s telling you about his take on Rudolf Steiner’s theories in front of a cup of coffee. It is that sense of connection with everything you have committed to do in depth. It creates a communion of ideas, people, nature, everything around us. It puts us in a network, as opposed to making us feeling disconnected.
So for me today it is not really about asking the point of doing a particular activity, but it is rather about recognizing what learning and practicing whatever type of activity or art in depth can make to your life. This goes especially for those privileged few of us which have time every now and then to incur in existential crisis. But I’m going off topic…
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My interview with the wonderful Singaporean artist Amanda Heng has just been published on the new webmagazine D_Railed.
Amanda Heng’s work has been seminal in the development of Singaporean contemporary art and resonate with art viewers from all walks of life. Along with her production she greatly contributed to the growth of the Southeast Asian scene and the cultural discourse in the region by setting up initiatives and groups.
Interviewing Amanda Heng was a blast. She is a strong, inspiring figure and yet gentle and friendly. In the original hour and a half long recording of the interview we talk about many different topics. In this piece though I have decided to focus mainly on her perspective on Singaporean culture and the local art scene. I thought this was the best solution for someone who isn’t familiar with the context in which the artist operates.
The interview is part of my reportage on Singapore contemporary art, and part of the foundation for a book on the same topic I’m currently working on.
A few words on the magazine; D_Railed has been just founded by colleague and friend Deianira Tolema, a talented writer working between New York and Naples. I greatly admire her determination in realizing everything she put her mind to do and I’m honoured to be part of her team from the start!
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A few months ago I met Indonesian artist Farhan Siki for his show “Trace” at Banca Generali, in Milan. We spoke about the exhibition and his approach to art. Hong-Kong magazine CoBo has just published the interview, along with a short video of part of our conversation.
Here is the link to the piece + video
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A few weeks ago I interviewed Palestinian artist Rafat Asad, who recently had a show called “Eltifaf – Bypass” at Gallery One in Ramallah. The conversation with this profound man and wonderful artist has just been published on the webmagazine Middle East Monitor with the title: “A place is where your memories are”.
Here is the link to the interview
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