After the huge success of Spaceship Earth exhibition in 2011, the Center of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu in Torun (Poland) is now preparing to inaugurate a new, prestigious group show curated by Dobrila Denegri.
Theater of Life is an exhibition dedicated to the artistic practices that challenged social conventions in search for alternative models of art and life, announcing and propelling the liberating energies that shook the art world, and not only, in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.: Fluxus, performance, body art, and all those tendencies that have found their focus on action and on the body as subject and object of the artwork, will be the starting point for a wide exhibition which will also highlight how the theatrical and subversive character of the gestures of those years still resounds in the work of new generations.
The opening, scheduled on May 18, will be accompanied by an intensive program of performances and lectures which will turn the museum and exhibition in a “total performative event”, that will include artists as well as the public, of course.

16.05.2012

Theater of Life
Center of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu
Waly gen. Sikorskiego, 13
web: www.csw.torun.pl

Torun (Poland), from May 18 to September 16, 2012

Going to take place from May 17 to 25, 2012, in Rome, Teatri di Vetro is not an usual festival. It is rather a community of actors, curators and – not least – of public, all assembled around a Kafkaesque claim: Assault on the frontiers. Because from the Kafka quote – “all such writing is an assault on the frontiers” -, they take the strength to overcome the social, economic, political, philosophical and anthropological difficulties, in order to share an art which is independent, free and consistent.
Reached its sixth edition, like a child who goes to school, the festival grew up, and this year – under the artistic direction of Roberta Nicolai and Triangolo Scaleno Teatro – has significantly expanded its possibilities by opening its doors to many new companies and new artistic genres, such as dance and video art, which are going to animate the Roman popular district of Garbatella.
The Body is the theme of the initiative, not only from a physical and dynamic point of view, but also aesthetic, reflective, revolutionary, and in connection with the objects and scenes which, especially in the case of the shows organized in several spaces of the neighbourhood, constantly change the performances, demonstrating the great importance that this kind of theater gives to his context and audience: popular, honest and collaborative.
TDV assaults the frontiers, it surpasses them despite the crisis, and defines its character, this time more than ever, “there are not good magicians, – says Roberta Nicolai – neither artists: you can choose to live in the light off, among the ghosts, or you can find the switches and turn on the light.” 

Ilaria Giordano
16.05.2012

TEATRI DI VETRO
Palladium Theatre
Piazza Bartolomeo Romano, 8 | Various venues
web: www.teatridivetro.it

Rome, from May 17 to 25 , 2012

An aphorism by Francesco Sales says: “Teaching is the foundation for learning.” The phrase fits perfectly to the designing duo formed by Rachele Mancini and Maila Ferlisi, better known as Hibou Ra Ma, a brand which produces trendy bags, made with selected materials and 100% made in Italy, but absolutely affordable.
Rachele was astudent at her last year at the Accademy of International Academy for Haute Couture and Art of Costume Koefia when she met Maila, who was her teacher. The two had shared many ideas and tastes, and when they both realized that they needed a clutch bag, and that they wasn’t able to find one with appreciable design and quality, they decided to create it with their own hands and ingenuity. Thus was born Virginia, the first bag, two-tone, imaginative and fashionable, but with a subtle touch of aggressive allure that distinguishes all the bags Hibou Ra Ma, and also the two designers. Virginia has changed over time, has dabbled more or less young women with its many versions, and has been joined by several companions, as Polly, the current it bag of the brand.

DROME: A woman can’t get enough bags. What’s fundamental for an accessoire?
Hibou but Ra: We have always had a passion for accessories, because we believe that they are the finishing touch that can enhance any outfit, even the most simple. It is often the way to dare for those who can not wear any dress, by choice or because of their physical fitness, job or age. We are convinced that they are a great way to vent the own fancy. From bags and shoes, you can understand the personality of a person.

D: What do you think about today’s fashion system and how would you like to see it change in the future?
H: We are attracted by the luxury that excites us, but it would be nice to have an accessory of high quality and refined genre at an affordable price. We would also like it to be given space to these emerging brands that perform their work with passion, professionalism and a bit of courage.

D: What is your greatest satisfaction at the time?
H: No doubt to see our creations around, worn by many women, each one in its own way. Or when our clients write to us telling their enthusiasm and come back to buy more bags.

D: What was, until now, the most challenging and interesting meeting for your work?
H: Participating at Artisanal Intelligence, the first real event that allowed us to know industry insiders, Roman and not only. We had the feeling of having chosen the right path.

D: Which are the characteristics that you admire in the other, and which are the advantages to work as a duo?
H: We have the same taste and together we can have some interesting and challenging ideas. This is definitely our strength. Rachel is very good in planning, she is down-to earth and has a lot of self-control. Maila, however, has a strong artistic streak.

D: If you have to compare your personal style, your fashion to a song, which would be? And a dish? A movie?
H: As song, Megamix by Jovanotti, because, for us, is a hymn to creativity. As dish, definitely chocolate: we love in all its forms. Finally, as a movie, Limitless with Bradley Cooper.

text by Anna Franco
photos by Federico Oddone for DROME magazine
16.05.2012

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The two models invited by Hibou for IN THE VAN #05 are Francesca Perini and Camilla Alibrandi. Francesca is a young Italian actress, who divides her time between the sets of movies, TV series and commercials. Instead Camilla is a photographer, but an acute observer has surely recognized her due to numerous appearances on The Sartorialist, thanks to her innate ability to play with fashion.
www.myspace.com/alibrandicamilla

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Making of IN THE VAN #05 | video by Jacopo Pergameno - music by Equ Ohm

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Discover the next stops of the tour!

www.dromemagazine.com/in-the-van

Only a few days left to the launch of the new exhibition project conceived and curated by the collective elsewhere factory, which once again finds an unusual mechanism of collaboration, this time with CARGO, the symbol-space of the creative ferment that increasingly animates the Roman district of Pigneto – that has also given birth to DROME! -, and now new cradle of vibrant artistic avant-garde.

PATCHBOX is a multifaceted project: an exhibition of artworks by over 50 international artists, sent in digital format and then printed, numbered and stamped by the curators. Thus, the artworks become limited edition, despite their digital origin, proving that 2.0 art is officially recognized, it’s beautiful and has value because it CAN be unique. The exhibition will also be dynamic, because the works on sale, at 10 Euros each, once purchased will create new compositions and arrangements in the original setup, following a formula that suggests the kaleidoscope: one click, and everything changes.
All this – and, given the concept, couldn’t be otherwise – will have its parallel interface online between a web gallery that will gradually show all the artwork on show, and the documentation of the continuous changes of the exhibition, communicated in real time via social networks.
In short, PATCHBOX is the event that we all would like to attend, and this time we can, it shouldn’t be missed: from May 17, 2012, and for the next three months, at the CARGO you can drink, chat, and buy art at reasonable prices, a little as it probably should be thought contemporary art for young people: somewhere it’s necessary to begin in order to become collectors and to interact with the market… more interaction than that?!

Ilaria Giordano
15.05.2012

PATCHBOX project – Group Show
CARGO
Via del Pigneto, 20
web: www.patchboxproject.com

Rome, from May 17 to August 2012

“It is all about hands which leave unique and inimitable signs. Hands that touch, interact, change. Hands that create objects intended for use, not just consumption”

Designers, stylists, artists, artisan boutiques and Italian and international small ateliers are the protagonists of the sixth edition of Byhand, the temporary shop focused on mingling between art and fashion, dedicated to unique design disciplines. This time, it’s the Circolo dei Lettori of Turin which is going to host the 34 exhibitors-craftsmen who, with a fresh and live approach, manufactures products, not “goods”. The industrial Anonymity is put aside, and it is emphasized the spontaneous and genuine creativity that gives birth to unique one-offs, all meticulously handmade. With an event where fashion, art and design come together, live together, by sharing planning and production poetics, Byhand will showcase (and sell!) dresses (Workshop), accessories (Atelrier Carlotta Sadino, Saisei, Livia Lazzari – our protagonist for IN THA VAN #02), home design (2icedesign), brand (Trakatan), illustrations (Giorgio Rubbio) and collections (Elizabeth The First, ombredifoglia). Limited editions made with the knowledge of tradition and craftsmanship by those who just don’t care about the logic of consumerism and of arid laws of the market.
From 18 to 20 May, 2012!

Giulia Fasanella
14.05.2012

Byhand – Edizione 06
Circolo dei Lettori
Via Bogino, 9
web: www.byhandshow.com / www.circololettori.it

Torino, dal 18 al 20 Maggio 2012

Visit Palazzo Grassi in these days is a bit like being catapulted into a parallel world, into a path populated by riddles and illusions, plastered with signs and objects whose nature seems to evade all logics. The author of this amazing journey is the artist Urs Fischer (born in Zurich in 1973 and currently based in New York), that at the Madame Fisscher’s opening, in the first floor’s foyer and halls of the prestigious exhibition venue chaired by François Pinault, has presented much of his creative assets: over thirty works created during two decades.

Volcanic, in that way the ratio of Fischer with art could be defined: nothing is obvious or preconceived, everything is subject to  multiple interpretations. Unsettling, happily incongruent and allergic to any form of physical or mental static, the Swiss artist is the first actor of the new series of monographic exhibitions held by Palazzo Grassi. A debut, with this masterly exposition, which results successful and praiseworthy. «Urs Fischer is an artist with an immense potential and has proved it perfectly with this show», commented Martin Bethenod, director of Palazzo Grassi. «He enthusiastically accepted our invitation, actively participating in the planning of the installation, the conception of initiatives (such as workshops with students of the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice), and the choice of works together with the curator Caroline Bourgeois».

The discovery tour of the stunning visual universe of Fischer begins by the imposing installation Madame Fisscher, perfect reproduction of the artist’s London studio, where you get lost in a whirlwind of sketches, drawings, furnitures, trashes, memorabilia and colours. A prelude that well represents the magma of ideas and set of techniques and materials which highlight  the artist’s works. After meander through the “belly” of Madame Fisscher, the exhibition unfolds in dialogue and improbabile  dream  (Cappillon; In Dubio Pro Reo; Mr Watson – come here – I want to see you; Clouds; The Lock), surreal perceptual reversals (abC; meme; A Thing Called Gearbox), fragments and human orifices (Untitled [Holes]; The Grass Munchers; Old Pain), meaningless movements and objects out of context (NachJugendstiel kam Roccoko; A Sigh Light is the Sound of My Life), comparisons between life and art (Necrophonia).

Attractive, and to dissect, is the choice of films screened during the exhibition and selected by the artist, in which even peeps our Pupi Avati with his moovie The House with Laughing Windows. «What I admire most of Urs Fischer is his ability to give life to a “hyper accurate chaos“, that sense of permanent movement that characterizes all his work. I think he is a genius from the space, for his special way of calling into question its identity and change it, creating a dynamic dialogue between the works and the context in which they are located» said Bethenod. In fact, the association between the playful spirit, ambiguous and paradoxical work of Fischer, and the noble neo-classical architecture of the Palazzo Grassi destabilizes and surprises, catching unprepared the viewer and goading his imagination. So, for those who missed Marguerite de Ponty, the amazing exhibition held between 2009 and 2010 at the New Museum in New York, or for who was enchanted by Jet Set Lady, presented in Milan in 2005 by the Nicola Trussardi Foundation, we strongly recommended to visit the ”dear” Madame Fisscher!
Equally unmissable is also the public meeting scheduled for June 20 at Palazzo Grassi, which will see Urs Fischer in conversation with the curator Francesco Bonami.

text by Francesca Cogoni
photos by Carlo Beccalli for DROME magazine
11.05.2012

URS FISCHER
Madame Fisscher
Palazzo Grassi
Campo San Samuele, 3231
web: www.palazzograssi.it

Venice, until July 15, 2012

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DROME also suggests you the following exhibition by Urs Fischer:

schmutz schmutz
Gagosian Gallery
4, rue de Ponthieu
web: www.gagosian.com

Paris, unitl May 26, 2012

In a historical moment in which the virtual world has taken the (almost) full control of our lives, in the public sphere as well as the private one, which is the meaning that we attribute to the term “aggregation”? This is the common thread that links the works of 7 the artists invited by Tarabakaufen! which, in collaboration with Offset, proposes the exhibition We live in public in Reggio Emilia. As part of the 2012 edition of Fotografia Europea, and inspired by its theme “Common Life. Images for citizenship”, the group show curated by Isabella Falbo will present the interventions of Massimo Festi, Lorenzo Fontanesi, Marco Gargano, Elisabetta Dell’Olio, Andrea Quarantotto, Roberta Segata and Cosimo Terlizzi, declined in an eclectic exhibition path where photography communicates with performance, fashion and videos, by suggesting new interpretations of old and new forms of aggregation. To keep in theme, the opening will be accompanied by a series of fascinating encounters and unmissable party. From May 11, 2012!

11.05.2012

WE LIVE IN PUBLIC
Curated by Isabella Falbo
Temporary Location: Via Guidelli, 1
web: www.tarabakaufen.com

Reggio Emilia, from May 11 to June 15, 2012

The review Ubu Rex 3, which is running at the Teatro dell’Orologio in Rome until May 13, 2012, was born under the auspices of the Consortium Ubusettete: it is staging seven shows built across the socio-political Italian drama, thanks to a brilliant auteur approach and acting. For this, it brought on stage five talents of the contemporary theater by giving different voices to the same common intention of the Consortium: to suggest, aim for, and frantically looking for a change, first trying to undermine “the flawed context of the Italian theater system”, and then, as much as it’s possible, certain unhealthy habits of last generations. Mocking or dramatizing them, Elvira Frosini from Kataklisma, Andrea Cosentino and Dario Aggioli from Teatro Forsennato, Daniele Timpano from amnesiA vivacE, and the OlivieriRavelli_Teatro company really have something to say, and are waiting for you at the Teatro dell’Orologio!

10.05.2012

UBU REX 3
Teatro dell’Orologio 
via de’ Filippini, 17/a
web: www.ubusettete.it

Rome, until May 13, 2012

The work of Nicol Vizioli is dreamy and evocative: frames of life suspended between reality and a sleepy delirium of drowsiness, when everything melts and becomes credible, heavy, and then soft, relaxed. In her photographs, the shadows are the master of shaping the images, they are just master. Shadows On Parade is just the name of a retrospective dedicated to her, which will open on May 16 at the Arts Gallery of London, running until June 29, 2012.

In these works comes out, wonderfully redundant, references to mythology, to the Baroque, to an aesthetic and pagan restlessness, to the animal world, perhaps to dark magic… (no coincidence that her photo series has enriched the inspired pages of the DROME Supernatural issue!). But the hope of being able to interpret and to read perfectly the representations of Nicol Vizioli is vain: no one can penetrate the deep subconscious level, the pre-sleep, when you leave the composure and the obligation by mixing the tastes and desires, the subjective idea of beauty, personal culture made of elective affinities. The choice of the artist, then, is this: no narrative need, rather than the reverse, representing through the lens what certain evanescent creatures suggest with a low voice, as she says, “without even knowing where they’re leading me”.

Ilaria Giordano
09.05.2012

NICOL VIZIOLI
Shadows On Parade
Arts Gallery – University of the Arts London
272 High Holborn
web : www.nicolvizioli.com
web: showtime.arts.ac.uk

London, from May 17 until June 29, 2012

We believed that setting off on a short trip to Sunset Boulevard and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in exquisite company would have been more than enough to enjoy at best the short – though intense – DROME’s foray into Los Angeles, and that after walking on the sunny streets of Downtown L.A. looking for the police station in Blade Runner (that is Union Station), we would have flown back home satisfied and a little tanned.
However, all that had to do nothing with our real plunge into the avant-garde of the West but also of the East Coast, which until two days ago was hosted in the spaces of the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, that is “TRANSMISSION LA: AV CLUB” exhibit (A =Audio and V=Visual).

Transmission LA: AV CLUB, Jim Drain and Ara Peterson, "Pinwheels", photo by John Sciulli/Getty Image

After the premiere that took place in Berlin under the gaze of Raf Simons, and the more recent show in Copenhagen, the worldly event underwritten by Mercedes Benz moved on the other side of the pond with an ambitious collective conceived and curated by hip-hop pioneer Mike Diamond, best known as Mike D, characterized by the interaction between old and new languages. The 17-day extravaganza, which ran from April 20 to May 6, has brought together live and dj sets, performances and, first and foremost, installations, videos and paintings to transform MOCA into a nighttime haunt. To help you understand the level of the showcase, suffice to say that last April 24, Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich have been djing at Mike D’s bash, as long as three days later GonjaSufi was on the same stage.

To invite an icon of the show business to “invade” the spaces of the California temple of visual arts, under the direction of Jeffrey Deitch, is neither a customary initiative nor predictable in its outcome. However, beyond the originality of the concept on which TRANSMISSION is built, Mike D surprised for his exceptional curatorial approach, all about relevant sense short-circuits and with results only apparently reassuring and playful: the lineup featured 17 blue-chip artists. And with an exhibit that looked like a ride on the most amusing fun park, he has written a new chapter in The Avant/Garde Diaries – the digital interview magazine, which has jumped out of the Web to organise a new show and delve into a live exploration of the cutting edge of contemporary art on a global scale.

Transmission LA: AV CLUB, Peter Coffin, "Untitled (lines)", photo by John Sciulli/Getty Image

We have literally plunged into his visual and entertaining universe, marked by countercultural echoes and, despite the curator’s “no visual arts pedigree”, we were left stoked by his distinct aesthetic-conceptual consistency and by an impressive, vibrant, involving set-up, to which he gave a noteworthy contribution. From the exploration of the relationship between technology and culture by Cory Arcangel to the sarcastic approach of David Kramer and his Family Books, from Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe’s expanded cinema to the kaleidoscope-like installation by Jim Drain and Ara Peterson (already appluaded also at the MACRO Testaccio in Rome some years ago), the breakthrough sculptures by Sanford Biggers and Tom Sachs (who also created the podium for the tunes played by Jeremy Sole during the opening night), the canvases by Fowler and Sage Vaughn, the vesatile contributions by Public Fiction, and still, the humorously tragic animation in Takeshi Murata’s Popeye, the “Renaissance man” Mike Mills, Peter Coffin’s light installation (whose zine on the museum’s visitors was shown in the Family Books’ pop-up shop), Ben Jones’ buzzed-about immersive installation, with the taste and aroma of the Roy Choi’s Kogi pop up truck, washed down by the caffeine from the coffee bar designed by Robert McKinley.
The brand new Mercedes-Benz luxury car was hiding behind a black curtain bearing the script – in the manufacture’s mothertongue – “The curtain rises”: and here we have the Mercedes-Benz Concept Style Coupé – whose setting up has been also created by Mike D’s creative genius –, wisely adjusted in a striking multimedia installation of sounds and LED lights.

Transmission LA: AV CLUB opening night, photo by John Sciulli/Getty Image

The première, you can imagine that, was glamourous, crazy, alcoholic and packed beyond capacity: among the others, we spotted Obey, Jeremy Scott, Donovan Leitch and James Van Der Beek (yes, he, Dawson from Dawson’s Creek), while Santigold was on the stage.
In short, everything was absolutely cool, but it also had the power to arouse our curiosity and, at the same time, to liven up the flow of our thougth – strongly upset by jet lag – and, most of all, as it only happens when you are aware of a curatorial project that has really something new to say, to invite us to go beyond what the eyes can see, to find new places, even beyond the Hollywood Hills … Who would ever have believed it?

R.G.
08.05.2012

* In memory of Adam MCA Yauch (August 5, 1964–May 4, 2012) of the Beastie Boys

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Mike Diamond tours Transmission LA at MOCA | The video by The Avant/Garde Diaries:

TRANSMISSION LA: AV CLUB
Curated by Mike D
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
web: www.theavantgardediaries.com

Los Angeles, from April 20 through May 6, 2012

The settings from “Saturday in the Village” by Valeria Crociata are presented at the Palladium Theatre in Rome on the occasion of her first solo show, curated by Valentina Fiore for Nu Factory. The illustrator interprets the theme of the party with the bitter taste of the transience of fun: she represents the exact moment when you realize that everything is ending and the shapes take the lines of melted makeup after the fatigue of smiling.
With synthesis and an unprecedented color table, she tells a Bitter End with the sobriety of the show that goes out after the deafening sound of wind instruments: a tired clown, a dog dressed up and a little miserable, the solitude of a circus that suddenly confess the humanity of those masks that we are used to see.
No drum roll, no warm tones in these works, except those break points – a red nose, a conical hat, an inappropriate shoe – that are the focus which help the eye to discover, in the frame, the reference to the game, when all the rest says something else. While Saturday runs off, it seems a Sunday of depressed reflections, ready to be scattered in the preparation of tricks for the following Saturday.
Until June 12, 2012.

Ilaria Giordano
07.05.2012

VALERIA CROCIATA
Bitter End
Palladium Theatre
Piazza Bartolomeo Romano, 8
web: www.teatro-palladium.it / www.nufactory.it

Rome, from May 7 to June 12 , 2012

By choosing the street as an elected place for his own live performance, he demonstrates an approach to music without filters or constraints, and the desire to seek a genuine contact with the roots and their dynamics: for Lewis Floyd Henry, born in London in 1980 by Jamaican father and English mother, being a buskers is an essential experience to do. Despite the signed contract with the British label Adjust, for which he recently recorded the album One Man & His Pram 30W, and despite he started to perform all over the world, the only real stage for him continues to be the street, the crowded square kissed by the sun, where he captures and entertains the passersby with his blunt and energetic style. With his guitar, a small battery and an amplifier which propagate rough and intense sounds, Lewis fully embodies the on the road spirit.

At the Bloom’s backstage in Mezzago, on the occasion of his recent Italian tour, he explains us the origins of his vocation, not before he placed his trusted companion in life, a Gibson ES 335, in the chair beside him, like his queen. “I started playing when I was eleven. But actually all began at the age of three, when my mother gave me a little toy guitar. I don’t ever separate myself from it. I remember that when a rope was broken and my mother threw it away, for me it was a shock, I kept yelling: «Where’s my guitar? ».”
With his black suit and his curious old-style hat decorated with pearl buttons, just like the traditional British Pearly Kings, Lewis has almost the air of a bluesman from the past. His first performance on the street was at the Borough Market, the famous local market under the railway of London Bridge. This first, timid attempt to show his talent to the world did not go unnoticed, indeed gives him the courage to continue and soon become a familiar face, a familiar voice.

The days of Lewis Floyd Henry are held under a more or less regular program: the control of the weather forecasts on the web (the weather is one of the worst enemies of a street musician!), pickaback tools and then on a motorbike to Camden, Brick Lane or some other high traffic areas. But to be a busker is not simple: “Playing on the street is a little how to do graffiti. Years ago I was a graffiti artist, and I had several problems with the law. You know Jean-Michel Basquiat? He started down the street and now his work has been exhibited in prestigious galleries. A lot of great art comes from out there, but most people need to see a work in a gallery or a musician on a stage in order to consider art what they have ahead. The last time I played in Brick Lane I’ve received a fine. The charge? «Obstruction of public land.» There are very few places in London where the land belongs to the community, one of them is the bank of the Thames. I have a very smart friend who plays guitar right there, wearing a suit as a fisherman, so no one can chase it away! Don’t think I could do something like that.”

Composing the Lewis’ equipment traveling there is also a vintage baby pram, unconventional transportation vehicle and bizarre theatrical element to his shows. ”I love old prams, especially those with large metal wheels, just like in Mary Poppins.” Comes to mind the Rolling Thunder Revue, a tour that Bob Dylan taken in the mid-seventies, with a caravan full of quirky musicians. ”In fact, before becoming a one man band, I played in a group, but we broke up following the abandonment of the drummer. I’d like to collaborate with different musicians. It would be nice to have the strings, but also electronic rhythms, being in the center of a small orchestra in which classical and contemporary are mixed.” Playing on a beach, under a tree, in an open air festival: this is what Lewis Floyd Henry loves to do more. “If someone would tell me that from now I will be forced to play only in shabby and dark places, I would fall into depression. The next album, I want to register it in Winter: I realized the first one in Summer, and it was a great pain to be locked in the studio.”

text by Francesca Cogoni
photos by Carlo Beccalli per DROME magazine
07.05.2012

web: www.lewisfloydhenry.com