Most of us are used to seeing contemporary art in neutral settings—large, open spaces with abundant light and neutral décor—allowing the viewer to concentrate on the work, absorb its strength and message, be it bold or whispered.
The new exhibition at Ivan Bruschi House Museum on corso Italia in Arezzo is the complete opposite of that comfortable cliché. It is a jostling and rousing association of old and new, a wild, cacophonous, interactive and radical party. Performance art, digital pieces, paintings, collages and sculpture face off against Roman stone epigraphs, Etruscan amulets, medieval religious artifacts, Renaissance furnishings and Asian collectibles in the evocative setting that was Ivan Bruschi’s home.
The title of this event, “ma l’amor mio non muore” comes from a neon piece by the Claire Fontaine collective and could be a direct message to us from Ivan Bruschi himself. During his lifetime, Bruschi used his home as a space for dialogue, a place where the past was re-evaluated in light of the present, as a venue for entertaining, as a warehouse for his antiques and as a showroom. Under the careful attention of Lucio Misuri, the museum continues to explore its potential, using its spaces in provocative ways. As Fontaine writes, “love has less a sense of reality than a sense of the possible…it is closely related with the future and the un-happened.”
The ensemble of work comes alive thanks to curator Rita Selvaggio, who selected 80 pieces from Ettore Alloggia’s first-class collection and chose where and how to install them in the Casa Bruschi. Her decisions allow the pieces to talk with each other and with us: La Gabbia by Michelangelo Pistoletto, a painted reflective glass depicting a caged bird, sits alongside other domestic elements. A black Murano mirror with a LCD screen and moving image by Mat Collishaw, A Different Self, speaks to viewers in front of it as well as the Renaissance painting being restored in an open-laboratory situation on the floor directly below.
A hauntingly beautiful video installation by Edward Thomasson, Find a Problem to Solve, is positioned near the Madonna Sarti by Di Nerio, which has recently been returned to Arezzo, with guests welcome to sit before it on the carpet for viewing.
At the end of a visit to the exhibit, a friend might ask, “Did you see the Senatore collage on the first floor?” to which you may reply, “No, I got caught up with the Boetti piece on the second floor.” Such is the degree of intermingling and involvement that this exhibit—the first in a series dedicated to ‘Xenia and the rituals of hospitality’—inspires. We look forward to more. It’s a party, after all, and one that won’t leave you untouched.
Ma l’amor mio non muore
Casa Museo Ivan Bruschi
Corso Italia, Arezzo
Until September 25
Tue–Sun (closed Monday) 10–18
Entry: reduced rate of 3 euro for readers of The Florentine
Tel. 0575/354126
Website
DON’T MISS – Jazz and Wine. June 30, July 7+14
Visit Casa Museo Ivan Bruschi for wine tasting and jazz music in Arezzo. Tickets cost 9 euro; event begins at 9.15pm. To book, call 057/ 354126 or email info@fondazioneivanbruschi.it.
