This Saturday January 24, Bologna’s city center will come alive at night with art. During Art City White Night, the city’s museums, palaces, cafes, art galleries, and shops will host contemporary art exhibitions and events until midnight.
There will be over two hundred events and special openings available to all for free. White Night is organized by Bologna Fiere as part of the Art City Bologna that will be held from January 23-25.
Two epicenters of this excitement are MAMbo, Bologna’s Museum of Modern Art, and Museo Morandi, the home of the late Bolognese painter.
MAMbo will feature Lawrence Carroll’s “Ghost House” exhibition. One of the most influential contemporary painters, Carroll’s work displays his artistic evolution of over 30 years. He will show about 60 works produced between the 1980s and now. “Ghost House will be held in the temporary exhibition galleries”, which have a chronological theme. They aim to create an environment in which works from different periods are displayed together, as if exploring through time.
Casa Morandi is the home where Giorgio Morandi worked and lived from 1910-1964. Famous for his still life painting and unique lighting technique, Morandi lives on in the works that he created located in the museum of the house where he lived. Vases, bottles, shells, and models appear in their original location to give visitors an idea of what the house looked like in Morandi’s time. Even the bedroom that his sisters occupied is intact.
During Bologna’s White Night, Casa Morandi will host Ada Duker’s Imprevedibile nature morte. In homage to her Bolognese teacher Alessia Masi, the Dutch artist adventures with her camera to show the invisibility and reality of architecture. She translates minimalist drawings and paintings of Italian architecture into manuscript “scribbles” with architectural structures and relationships.
The Art Hotel Orologio, located behind Piazza Maggiore, will feature Simone Frabboni and Mieke Everaart’s “Wooden Memories” exhibition. Frabboni, a talented wood artist, has teamed up with Dutch artist Everaarts to emulate Dutch wood fashion. Together they expand past typical wood art and use materials out of their classic contexts. Such materials include recycled textiles and fabrics.
Fabbroni and Mieke focus on the English Style of the late 1800s, and these are brought to life in Art Hotel Orologio, which has architecture from the decadent period. Guests will enjoy an “Aperitivo Dandy” of Cognac, Brandy/Rum, and Chocolate with dolcetti and pasticcini.
On a small street called Via Nazario Sauro, close to Piazza Maggiore, Cortile will have a presentation from La Scuola della Carta (School of Paper), which focuses on experimenting and creating graphic art out of handmade paper. There will be pieces of art portrayed by Renata Giannelli, Barbara J Matera, Tiziana Albretti, and Chiara Boschiero, including an etching on silk of golden leaves.
Kartell Store on Via Altabella will present “Città e Supereroi” (cities and superheroes) from two Bolognesi authors and architects. Armando Dozza, architect and painter, depicts the metropolitan side of Bologna with light and speed. Dozza’s works are extrasensory, boasting whirls of light that invite you to imagine fantasy and superheroes. Silvio Cassarà, architect and professor at the University of Bologna, will show his photos of New York.
The Galleria Maurizio Nobile on via Santo Stefano will feature Luciano Minguzzi’s sketches and sculptures. Luciano Minguzzi was born in Bologna in 1911 and died in Milan in 2004. He is considered the greatest Bolognese sculptor of the 1900s. This exhibit celebrates the artist’s life and most impressive works, amounting to roughly 50. He celebrates traditional local artistry with modern expressionist tendencies and European Cubist styles.
Minguzzi studied at Accademia delle Belle Arti di Bologna under Giorgio Morandi. He draws inspiration from Bolognese and Florentine Renaissance sculptors, as well as modern artists. The dialogue between the different mediums he uses – the confrontation between design and sculpture – shows the freedom and elaborate spontaneity of Minguzzi.
From MAMbo to Morandi to Minguzzi, Bologna’s Art City White Night sure has a lot in store, or museum, for art lovers.
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