PRESS RELEASE

Art event: cultural exhibition “AZIONE E PENSIERO”: HELIDON XHIXHA

Turin, Royal Palace, Juvarra’s Rooms of the State Archives, Piazza Castello 209 – entrance from Piazzetta Mollino.

Dates: January 15th – February 19th 2016.

Type of works on display: sculptures

Artists: Helidon Xhixhia Curatorship: Anselmo Villata.

Sponsoring institutions: Piedmont Region, Metropolitan City of Turin, Municipality of Turin, National Institute of Contemporary Art (I.N.A.C.), Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, Directorate-General of the State Archives.

Exhibition opening: Friday, January 15th 2016, at 5:00 pm.

The opening ceremony will be attended by: the artists, Helidon Xhixha and Anselmo Villata, exhibition curator and President of the I.N.A.C.

The exhibition will be open to the public until February 19th 2016, from Monday to Friday, 10:00 am - 6:00 pm; Saturday: January 16th, January 30th and February 13th, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.

Juvarra’s Rooms, in the complex of the Royal Palace in Turin, are becoming the impressive setting for the display of works by two young Masters who, despite being born in Albania, studied in Italy, where they still live and work, having firmly established in the national and international art scene.

Helidon Xhixha, after following a path that led him to reach different parts of the globe, ranging from Miami to London and Dubai, where he left works both in public venues and in private collections, eventually arrived in Turin just after the end of the sensational experience at the Venice Biennale, which drew the attention of a large number of visitors as well as of the international press. “Iceberg”, the first floating sculpture authorized to cross the Grand Canal, not only amazed the demanding public of the Biennale, but also managed to send an important message on the delicate balance of our environment. It is a solo exhibition that combines the works of two artists with different expressions and carriers, despite having shared a life and training cycle that in their youth led them to get in touch with a whole new world compared to the Albanian cultural background they had just left and of which they have themselves become co-creators.

Art is action; creation and creativity are essential achievements mediated by very precise signifiers and signified, mediated by absolutely sophisticated aesthetic canons; the work is the result of the action, but above all the result of the thought that is the basis of the whole process and ultimately justifies its very being. Rationality, from the body of reflection to the method and procedure of achievement, is the fundamental element that accompanies the entire artistic career.

This is an important opportunity to establish a comparison between two different stylistic results which, however, share a common purpose and method; a dialogue that acquires additional charm thanks to the setting of the exhibition which is going to act as a gorgeous background to the works of this artist. In this sense, not only can we admire the work of Helidon Xhixha, but also the mastery of Juvarra, who, through the magnificent wooden fittings and furniture installed in the rooms that bear his name, will provide the perfect setting for the highly contemporary artist, though well aware of an artistic and cultural path that comes from afar and is projected (partly thanks to them) into the future. This exhibition becomes a concrete example of how ancient and contemporary can be brought together and enhance one another; a cultural experience, but also emotional for the public who will visit the exhibition.

The event is curated by Anselmo Villata, an accredited art critic and curator, member of the Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art and President of the National Institute of Contemporary Art, who has recently been awarded the Prize for Excellences “Napoli Cultural Classic”; he has also curated numerous exhibitions both Italy and abroad, cooperating with public and private institutions, such as the Forbidden City in Beijing, the city of Paris, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism in Italy, in addition to publishing several critical texts and essays both in Italy and abroad.

To accompany the exhibition, the publishing house Verso l’Arte is going to publish a book in full colour with text in two languages (Italian and English), containing reproductions of all the works on display, together with the biographies of the artists, a critical essay by the curator, and prefaces and introductions by the Director of the National Museum of Albania in Tirana, Melsi Labi, and by the local Authorities.

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Cerrina, 11.12.2015