PROGETTO PADIGLIONE ITALIA

54° ESPOSIZIONE INTERNAZIONALE D’ARTE DELLA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA

 

  "Padiglione Italia was a massive project which was presented in tandem with the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011. The Exhibition of Italian artists in the Italian Pavilion was in of itself an event without precedent since the moment that the curator, Vittorio Sgarbi, decided to confer on it a totally unusual dimension. The project, which also considered the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, extended artist calls throughout all Italy and all Italian Cultural Institutes abroad. The intention of this effort was  to document the state of Italian contemporary art world-wide.

 

  The vast and rigorous recognition of living and working Italian artists in the last ten years has allowed us to learn about contemporary artistic production according to a revolutionary criteria. Vittorio Sgarbi did not realize "his" exhibition with "his" artists, as is usually the case, but instead created and coordinated an immense research on contemporary artists, offering the widest possibility of seeing Italy's artistic heritage expressed on an international stage. The choice is courageous, unusual and titanic, but most importantly it is useful in having a vision of artistic production which is not solely filtered by the personal taste of the critic or curator. "

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  In 2011 I, Oliver Stephens, had the honor to present my work along-side three other Guatemalan artists of Italian descent in the "Padiglione Italia" exhibition and the "Italiarte" Exhibition that preceded it. It was truly a tremendous honor to represent my country on such a massive and international stage at the age of 21.