The Courage of Collectors and the Lack of Confidence from Italian Institutions

In your experience, which living Italian contemporary artists have achieved the greatest visibility abroad, and through which factors (e.g., galleries, biennials, exhibitions, curators, etc.)?

Italian art is fairly visible in Europe, but breaking beyond European borders is certainly more difficult. Compared to a few years ago, something has changed. The fact that young artists now speak English — and I say this because my generation, those born in the late 1960s and early ’70s with whom I grew up in Milan, didn’t speak it — made a difference. In my experience, I brought curators from biennials to do studio visits with artists like Frosi and Grimaldi, and the meetings sometimes resembled half a pantomime. It’s not that they didn’t speak any English, but they were so intimidated that they preferred not to speak it at all. This obviously made exporting their work more difficult. Younger artists today already begin with the idea of doing residencies abroad, living in Berlin or London, where there are many young artists building their careers by starting elsewhere. At this moment, I must say that Switzerland is a very important hub for young Italian artists: there are good schools, and more attention and attraction, as was the case with Lorenza Longhi, who trained in Switzerland. There are many talented young artists emerging, but only a few manage to break through. For example, Marinella Senatore is currently at the São Paulo Biennial and at this moment is enjoying good international visibility. Lara Favaretto had that kind of visibility too — but we should remember that she’s represented by Franco Noero, the only Italian gallery on the Art Basel selection committee. If an artist has the support of a good number of collectors, they can work on exhibitions and don’t need to produce smaller, lower-cost works — they can create and show more important pieces.

In your opinion, which Italian contemporary artists have not yet received adequate visibility despite their artistic value, and what are the causes for this lack of recognition?

There are so many young artists who could gain visibility abroad. Davide Sgambaro, Matteo Pizzolante — who participated in the Jaguar Road Show with Artissima — and many others. There are also those with more established careers, such as Anna Franceschini, a very skilled artist who works on many projects. In my opinion, she is ready to take the leap and have institutional exhibitions abroad.

In your experience, what are the key steps and elements that support the international career of a contemporary Italian artist? And where is the Italian system lacking in supporting contemporary Italian art on the international stage?

Public and private institutions support Italian artists mainly through prize funding. But the real issue doesn’t arise at the very beginning of an artist’s career, but rather when they start doing exhibitions — perhaps their first solo shows in a gallery. That’s the moment when the artist should make the leap, but institutions are quite closed to young artists trying to have their first institutional solo show. And it's difficult to build a career with just a gallery. It’s the same problem for a foreign institution that’s supposed to host the first exhibition of a young Italian artist who hasn’t yet shown in a museum in their own country: the classic vicious circle. The Italian Council has somewhat helped with this transitional phase, but it’s also a matter of gallery strength. If an Italian gallery wants to successfully expand its business abroad, it can represent some Italian artists, but only a small percentage — because to be accepted in international fairs and be recognized, it needs to present a product that others recognize. In this sense, our galleries have been quite outward-looking. The fact that the number of collectors is growing and there is more attention being paid helps Italian artists, but at the same time, once a collector has bought one or two works, they’re not going to buy twenty pieces from the same artist. The “bottleneck” factor is mainly linked to galleries, which are reluctant to invest in young Italian artists. Then there’s the curiosity of foreign curators who used to come to Italy, but that has slowed down somewhat due to COVID. I must say that in terms of support for curators, the Via Farini Italian Art Archive — which at the time was something of a miracle — still plays a role, but now, with digital resources, there’s less need. When curators come to Italy, they mostly speak with galleries and academies.  Italian museums should, from time to time, try to organize exhibitions for artists at this intermediate career stage — the most difficult one — because at that point you’re not discovering someone new, and you’re not yet sure they will become a major figure. But the truth is, if Italian institutions don’t take that chance, why should foreign institutions be the ones to bet on them?