Naturecultures: Arte Povera at OGR Turin

OGR Torino and Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea present the exhibition Naturecultures. Art and Nature from Arte Povera to the present day. From the Collections of the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT at Castello di Rivoli.

Curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Director, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Marcella Beccaria, Chief Curator and Collections Curator, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea and Samuele Piazza, Senior Curator, OGR Torino.

Works by Mario Merz (Milan, 1925-2003), Marisa Merz (Turin, 1926-2019), Michelangelo Pistoletto (Biella, 1933), Giovanni Anselmo (Borgofranco d’Ivrea, Turin, 1934), Jannis Kounellis (Piraeus, 1936 – Rome, 2017), Piero Gilardi (Turin, 1942), Pier Paolo Calzolari (Bologna, 1943), Gilberto Zorio (Andorno Micca, Vercelli, 1944), Richard Long (Bristol, 1945), Giuseppe Penone (Garessio, Cuneo, 1947), Amar Kanwar (New Delhi, 1964), Agnieszka Kurant (Łódź, 1978)

29 April – 22 September 2022 Free Entrance OGR Torino

From 29 April to 22 September 2022, OGR Torino, in collaboration with Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, presents Naturecultures. Art and Nature from Arte Povera to the present day. From the Collections of the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT at Castello di Rivoli, an exhibition taking place on platforms 1 and 2 of OGR Torino.

The exhibition is organised by the OGR Torino and the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, with the extraordinary contribution of Fondazione CRT and the support of the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, which has been enriching and enhancing the cultural and artistic heritage of the territory in an international dimension since 2000.

The exhibition presents mainly works from the collection of Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, acquired between 2000 and 2021 thanks to Fondazione CRT: a synergy that has enabled Turin and Piedmont to build, in just over twenty years, one of the world’s most important collections of contemporary art open to the public.

The private collection of the legendary art dealer Margherita Stein, who called herself “Christian” Stein, formed the first nucleus of the collection in 2000; the last work acquired in 2021 is Adjacent Possible by Agnieska Kurant, which is on display in the exhibition.

With Naturecultures, OGR Torino and the Fondazione CRT reaffirm their commitment to the development of unprecedented projects that can strengthen links with the top institutions in the field and contribute to the creation of social value”, says Massimo Lapucci, CEO of OGR Torino and Secretary General of Fondazione CRT. “Starting with the exhibition of a selection of works created from the 1960s to the present day and acquired over the last twenty years thanks to Fondazione CRT, the exhibition highlights the focus on important contemporary issues that are in line with the points of the 2030 Agenda. From climate change to sustainable development and the broader discourse on ecology, we create opportunities for encounter and open spaces for dialogue through artistic research to engage an ever-wider audience and promote awareness and collective reflection on contemporary challenges”.

Naturecultures represents the first important stage on the way to further enhancing and sharing the CRT’s collection, which today includes 900 important works by 300 artists worth over 40 million euros. Thanks to the synergy between the museums and the Foundation, in just over twenty years Turin and Piedmont have been able to build one of the most important collections of contemporary art in the world, open to the public”, says Anna Ferrino, President of Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT. “Launched from a vision of modern patronage, the exhibition on loan at the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea and the Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna di Torino is an outstanding achievement for its qualitative and economic value and its role in supporting the curatorial projects of these prestigious institutions. The selection of works made by the curators for this exhibition reflects the identity of the collection: from the Arte Povera core of the Stein Collection – the Foundation’s first acquisition – to the work of Amar Kanwar, exhibited for the first time in Italy, to the recent Adjacent Possible by Agnieszka Kurant, they all testify to a heritage that is constantly evolving, living and renewing itself over time“.

From May to September, the Castello di Rivoli, in collaboration with Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, will offer an extensive accompanying programme that will allow the public to explore the themes of the exhibition: the relationship between art and ecology, biodiversity, the emergence of Arte Povera and the new frontiers of collecting.

There will be guided tours with the curators of the exhibition, lectures, excursions outside the premises of the OGR together with the most important interpreters of Arte Povera and the international conference “Climate PTSD” with experts from all over the world who will discuss the post-traumatic effects of climate change.