Naima Morelli

Archive
Tag "contemporary art"

blog1

The other day I was reading this interesting interview on Design Sponge to business owner Jess Lively. Jess pointed out that there are four questions everyone should ask themselves before starting a business, or while running it. These question have subconsciously run into my mind all the time, but now I really wanted to put them “on paper”. The answer we give to these questions is ultimately what makes you keep going through a bad day and what can probably stop you making things half heartedly. It is a powerful reminder to do what you can with what you have and not be scared to figure things out along the way. Here my answers; I’m sure many arts writers and curators can relate to.

1. Why are you starting this business?

Because I love writing and connecting with people. What motivates me is a huge curiosity about the world and the human beings inhabiting it. I enjoy hearing people’s stories and retell them through my own writing. I’m usually enriched and energized by a good conversation, and at times also moved.  As a journalist and interviewer I always bear in mind the motto: “La vita è l’arte dell’incontro” (Life is the art of the encounter).

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benjamin
The Italian web magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) has  just published the interview I had in Rome with artist Benjamin Skepper with the title “Benjamin Skepper, l’olandese tra Australia, Tokio, Russia, resto del mondo e bellezza. L’intervista”. The interview is part of my reportage about artists in Melbourne.

Here the link to the interview

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For the “Nothing happened since yesterday – Due Artisti da Melbourne” exhibition, I organized a talk at Accademia di Belle Arti Roma – aka Rome’s Art Academy – with the two exhibiting artists.
The talk was hosted by Prof. Isabella Tirelli and was meant to fuel a discussion with the students about the path of artists after art school. I thought that the experience of Kenny Pittock and Georgina Lee could have been interesting for the students. To start as emerging artist in Melbourne is certainly easier in Rome, thanks also to a very tight community and the presence of artist-run space. I hoped that by comparing the Australian art system to the Italian one, the students could have been inspired and come with new ideas for their own art environment.
I started the talk by introducing the Australian context and my research on the Melbourne art scene. Then Kenny and Georgina went on talking about their own work.
I’m happy about the outcome of the talk. Some students asked about the conceptual process of making work, some others inquired about how an Italian artist could start exhibiting in Australia. Georgina replied very clearly to all the questions and Kenny made even the more impassible students laugh. A student called Francesco even made a drawing of Georgina and Kenny and gave to them as a gift!

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australiaunlimited

The web-magazine Australia Unlimited has  just published my article about Italian non-profit art spaces looking at Melbourne’s contemporary art scene as a unique model for innovation and dynamism. The article is part of my reportage about emerging artists in Melbourne.

Here the link to the article

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ashleytrouble

My interview with artist Ashley Bickerton “Artists are dyed poodles dancing through fiery hoops for the one percent”,  is the cover story of the Australian magazine Trouble. (My second cover story on Trouble after Bindi Cole!)
The interview is part of my reportage about contemporary art in Indonesia.

Here the link to the interview

Here the link to the online version of the magazine

 

ashley1

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It’s Easter holidays and instead of camping and picnicking in random green spots in Sorrento, as it’s tradition over here, I’m working on a new book.
This will be a narrative essay about the challenges of being a young artist. The setting is Melbourne, Australia, but the book will be a snapshot of a moment of an artist’s career all over the world.
This book has a lighter tone compared to my Indonesian one (which is now going through the editing process in case you were wondering). With the Indonesian book I had to tackle pretty serious themes, since the country’s history has been pretty turbulent; while younger artists are lured by an often misleading market, established artists have to come to terms with the country’s political and social issues. Years of colonialism, dictatorship and struggles have very deeply influenced the contemporary artists in Indonesia.
Australia didn’t have that on a superficial level. The tragedies concerning Indigenous Australians or the aggressive Australian policies towards migrants – to name just two – don’t really register as their own to young, mostly white, Australians.
The focus of my book will still be contemporary art in relation with its context, but this time I want to be more personal. How to get a living when you have always thought that everything you would have to do in life was art? I heard this question by many of my artist friends and I also asked it to myself more than once.
The Melbournian system and the Australian way have some answers, but they pose also some new challenges. In this book I will give my take on the problem through my experience and the 40 voices of people I’ve interviewed in Australia. I’m interested in showing the good sides of the ecosystem in Melbourne and explaining how that could be beneficial for an artist who is interested in having a career.

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twoone1

The Australian magazine Trouble has  just published the interview I had in Melbourne with artist Two One (Hiroyasu Tsuri). The interview is part of my reportage about emerging artists in Melbourne.

Here the link to the interview

Here the link to the online version of the magazine

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anagloriasalvia

The Italian magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) has just published my review of Ana Gloria Salvia’s exhibition “Archi_Cuba” at PAN, Naples

Here the link to the review

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ITA:

Il giovane artista Robberto è recentemente tornato da Los Angeles dove ha esposto nella galleria Madhood Temporary (qui il mio comunicato stampa).
Una settimana fa ci siamo incontrati su sua richiesta al Verano, uno dei cimiteri più belli di Roma – almeno credo, non sono un’esperta in materia – e abbiamo chiacchierato riguardo l’esperienza dell’artista a LA, le opere realizzate lì, il mondo dell’arte americano a confronto con quello italiano e così via.
Sono stata a lungo combattuta sul pubblicare o meno sul mio blog l’audiointervista nella sua interezza. Sebbene mi trovi d’accordo sul disappunto e la disillusione di Robberto riguardo al mondo dell’arte italiano, mi piacerebbe essere comunque portatrice di una visione ottimista.
Nell’intervista però si trovano anche dei momenti di grande afflato e bellezza dove Robberto parla con passione della propria arte e di come, nonostante le difficoltà, non possa rinunciarci. Siccome gli artisti non vanno censurati, sopratutto quelli che si esprimono rispetto ad una condizione condivisa, ecco Robberto in tutta la sua incazzatura.

EN:

Italian emerging artist Robberto is back from Los Angeles where he recently had an exhibition called “Fake Skin” at Madhood Temporary (here my press release).
A week ago he asked me to meet at the Verano, Rome’s biggest and the most beautiful cemetery I suppose – I’m not an expert of cemeteries so I can’t make comparisons- and we had  a conversation about his experience in LA, the US art world vs the Italian one, his art and so forth.
Until the last minute I didn’t know if I wanted to post the entire audio record on my blog or not. Robberto turned out to have a very disillusioned and bitter opinion of the Italian art world and, even if I share his concerns, I would rather have an optimistic attitude.
Then I thought about the parts of the interview where he talks about the joy and the inevitability of art making, and I thought that could be very inspiring.
I don’t really feel I should censure artists, so I decided to post the interview, unfortunately available only in Italian. 

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shixinning

The Italian magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) has just published my review of Shi Xinning’s exhibition “Idea or Event” at Primo Marella Gallery, Milan.

Here the link to the review

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gamelan2

What the National Gallery of Victoria is trying to do with the Melbourne Now exhibition is to define the identity of Melbourne through its cultural practices, with a special focus on contemporary art.
I’m in Italy now, ironically writing my book about emerging artists in Melbourne, so I couldn’t visit the exhibition. Luckily my Australian friends and the artists that I have interviewed always keep me updated.
Some time ago I got a mail from artist Danius Kesminas, who told me about his new project with Slave Pianos for Melbourne Now, called Gamelan sisters (Sedulur gamelan). I posted some images, which gives you the feeling of this evocative machinery. On Slave Pianos’ website I find more information about it:

“Sedulur Gamelan (Gamelan Sisters) consists of two interlocking wooden structures that reconfigure elements of traditional Javanese architecture through the De Stijl philosophical principles of neoplasticism to create an abstraction of an 18th century double grand piano.

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2pic
Three years ago Isabella Tirelli, artist and professor at the Art Academy in Rome started a video project called “Dialogo con l’artista”.
The project was based on collective interviews to artists in their studio and was realized under the direction of videomaker Leonardo Settimelli.
Tirelli gathered students and ex students from the Art Academy – I fell into the latter category – and we visited the studios of the most amazing artists in Rome.
The most notable visit for me was certainly the one to Luigi Ontani’s studio in Piazza Popolo.
I wrote about Luigi Ontani work before (for this blog, Artribune and I-Magazine Bali) and I obviously love his art. Who doesn’t afterall?
Once I was in Naples and, going down the Museo Madre’s stairs, I saw Ontani around the corner. I was wearing his typical blue silk suit and there were two guys literally throwing at his feet whispering:”Maestro… maestro…”. Even if Ontani’s physical presence is enough inspire devotion among many, the artist himself is much more down-to-earth than his public persona.

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