The international career of an artist develops through international encounters

In your experience, which contemporary Italian artists (still living) have achieved the greatest visibility abroad, and thanks to which factors (e.g., galleries, biennials, exhibitions, curators, etc.)?
The most well-known is, of course, Maurizio Cattelan. The second—though we might be less aware of it because his name doesn’t sound so Italian—is Rudolf Stingel. Both moved to New York at the right time, both found a major New York gallery that welcomed them—Marian Goodman—and both were supported by a curator, Francesco Bonami. Both produced high-quality work, with Maurizio Cattelan’s being even more varied and innovative.

Stingel, however, found a major collector as a supporter—François Pinault—and in certain respects, has even surpassed Cattelan in terms of market success. Then there are the elder statesmen of Arte Povera, foremost among them Michelangelo Pistoletto and Giuseppe Penone; Pier Paolo Calzolari is also strongly on the rise. These figures grow stronger over time because they’ve already been selected by art history.

Among the younger—but now mid-career—artists, Francesco Vezzoli, Paola Pivi, and Roberto Cuoghi would seem ready to take off, but in reality, have never truly launched.

In your opinion, which contemporary Italian artists have not yet received adequate visibility in relation to their artistic value, and what are the reasons for this lack of recognition?
It’s difficult to compile a comprehensive list. Certainly, I would include Paola Pivi, although she is a unique individual: she chooses to live for long periods in isolated or peripheral places outside the main circuits of the art world, like Alicudi, Alaska, or India.

The most penalized is Stefano Arienti, who has done extensive, varied, and high-quality work, but perhaps has not found the right gallery or support. Along with him, Cesare Pietroiusti, whose limited international recognition is largely due to the nature of his work—difficult, conceptual, immaterial.

From the same generation, at the very least, one should mention Eva Marisaldi, Massimo Bartolini, Adrian Paci, and I would also include Sislej Xhafa (the last two are Albanian, but entirely trained in Italy). And then, the mentor of multiple generations of artists: Alberto Garutti.

The situation does not change if we look at younger artists: Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Rossella Biscotti—who, despite having a résumé that would make even great masters envious—Francesco Arena, and many others who are even younger.

The most successful Italian artists end up being those who have lived abroad for some time and have entirely foreign careers, like Monica Bonvicini and Rosa Barba, perceived as German artists, or Tatiana Trouvé, as French.

Many Italian artists, I would say, are in a position where they don’t even complete their artistic maturation: starting from the academies, whose average quality is very low, up to their early exhibition experiences, the lack of support and a strong system prevents them from growing and engaging on an international level. As a result, their work remains somewhat suspended, at times even uncertain, without a clear direction.

In your experience, what are the key steps and elements that support the international career of a contemporary Italian artist? And where does the Italian system fall short in supporting contemporary Italian art on the international scene?
The international career of an artist develops through international encounters. Participation in major exhibitions, such as biennials and other recurring shows, or solo presentations in foreign museums, activates meetings and exchanges—experiences that foster growth.

It’s not only a matter of making new contacts and gaining international visibility, but also of developing one’s own language through engagement with the rest of the world.

The establishment of the Italian Council (I’d like to emphasize: proposed during the first Italian Contemporary Art Forum in Prato in 2015) marked a very important first step, but one that is still insufficient.

To begin with, the total annual funding, between one and a half and two million euros, is still far below that of other countries (Pro Helvetia, for example, has an annual budget of over 30 million Swiss francs). But more importantly, the way in which funds are allocated remains very bureaucratic and, fundamentally, leaves it to the artist’s initiative to find a venue abroad to host the work produced.

So, if one analyzes the participation of Italian artists in major international biennials, one finds no improvement compared to the period before the Italian Council—in fact, recently things seem to have gotten worse.

The 2019 Istanbul Biennial featured only two Italian artists: Armin Linke, who is half German, and Luigi Serafini, who is not truly part of the contemporary Italian art system. In 2020, Manifesta in Marseille included zero Italian artists—as did the Berlin Biennale, the Shanghai Biennale, the Sydney Biennale, and the Gwangju Biennale, which opened in 2021.

There is a very simple system that could make the support from the Italian Council much more effective: the creation of an organization that invites international curators to Italy.

When a curator is appointed for an international biennial, they could be invited to undertake a short research trip to a few major Italian cities, where they would be shown portfolios and meet with curators and artists. Quite naturally, they would discover artists who interest them, and at that point, the Italian Council could support those artists’ participation in exhibitions that are already important international biennials or shows.

Of course, this is only a surface-level strategy: to consolidate results, a broader reform of the Italian contemporary art system would be necessary—from academies to museums. But that would require far more space than a short interview allows.