Focus on Painting / La giovane pittura italiana

Recent national and international contemporary art fairs confirm a strong return to painting among young and very young artists. For example, the 2021 edition of LISTE Art Fair Basel, dedicated to new generations of artists and the galleries that support them, highlighted —especially in the Solo Projects section—a significant return to this artistic language. LISTE has historically been characterized by innovative and often highly experimental projects, not always easy to imagine within collectors’ homes; ye t the most recent edition revealed a clear change of direction. The same can be said for the 2022 editions of Arte Fiera Bologna, MIART in Milan, and ARTISSIMA in Turin, all marked by a strong presence of young painters. In 2022, Arte Fiera Verona demonstrated that today’s young artists have returned to painting, often figurative. Among the 140 booths set up by national and international galleries participating in the event, painting was widely represented. A similar situation could be observed in London, where Frieze Week was taking place during the same days as Arte Verona. Likewise, a look at the auction lots at Christie’s and Sotheby’s reveals a strong presence of painting, more or less figurative.

It is precisely this trend—observable both internationally and nationally —that suggests analyzing the phenomenon beyond the plausible ebb and flow of fashions and movements. What emerges is a widespread feeling of an (eternal) return to painting, rediscove red as the primary channel for reading and transcribing the present. Perhaps it is due to the immediacy with which it presents itself to the viewer, or to the degree of introspection and vision it grants the creator, but painting seems particularly capable of embodying the secret yet intense tremors of reality. A closer look into the content-related aspects of the issue reveals a strong focus on existential dynamics of an intimate nature, which characterize contemporary painterly outcomes. There is no universality except in feeling, in place of a stripped -down collectivity. There is no overt political engagement, at most an unconscious social message. We observe solitary figures, outdoor spaces or private interiors, wealthy homes or deserted streets. Or vertiginous close-ups, exaltations of detail, or imaginative transfigurations of environments. What dominates is the spontaneity of a personal approach, based on an unreal rendering of reality—one that can only be understood when the artistic filter distances it from mere adherence to itself.

With Focus on PAINTING | la giovane pittura italiana, YAG/garage in Pescara, starting from the objective data provided by the initiatives mentioned above, aims—through the involvement of young artists, young curators, and young collectors—to offer an in-depth exploration of the pictorial production of artists from the latest and very latest generations.

The project is aimed at artists under the age of 40. Participants may be students of fine arts academies, self taught artists, or artists affiliated with galleries, collectives, or independent circuits. Young painters may apply independently, suggest other artists, or be recommended by curators, critics, galleries, and collectors. By February 23, 2023, applicants must send the following materials to the email address yag.pescara@gmail.com

– updated portfolio

– short biography in Word format (no CV)

– 3 images of the works proposed for the exhibition in the gallery

The selected candidates will be chosen by the artistic direction of YAG/garage and will be able to exhibit three works in the gallery spaces in Pescara. One of the works, chosen by the artist, will be added to the permanent collection. The biography of the selected artists and the works exhibited in the gallery will be published in the new 2023 catalog of YAG/garage, which will be presented in July 2024.

One work, selected by the artist, will become part of the permanent collection.

SCHEDULE

– Call opens: 28.01.2023

– Call deadline: 23.02.2023

– Announcement of selected artists: 26.02.2023

– Delivery of artworks by: 05.03.2023

– Opening mostra 11.03.2023

– Exhibition period: 11.03 – 04.04.2023

INSTALLATION TIMES AND METHODS

(gallery exhibition)

The selected works must be delivered to YAG/garage, Via Caravaggio 125, 65125 Pescara (PE), attention: Dr. Ivan D’Alberto, no later than March 5, 2023.

Each artist must indicate a bank account to which the €100.00 reimbursement for shipping and collection expenses can be transferred.

All three works must be accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, following the attached model.