Growing G/ART/EN from a Dream
Camilla Moresi
is the owner the contemporary art gallery, G/ART/EN based in Como, Italy. Camilla turned her passion into a profession with the desire to discover and support new emerging art practices through her diverse program. Camilla spoke to Alison Poon about taking a leap of faith to change careers, new ways of exhibiting and G/ART/EN’s current exhibition, ‘Pliegue’.
INTERVIEW
Alison: You have a background in architecture having both studied and practiced the subject. Could you talk a little bit about your relationship with art and how you made the transition from architect to gallerist?
Max Freund, Your kid could not do this
installation view
Camilla: I am very grateful for my architecture background because it has provided me with some fundamental tools to curate exhibitions, both from a conceptual point of view and because it allows me to play with the potential of the gallery space. I don't think there was a clean-cut from architecture; rather it was a gradual transition. It was a very spontaneous process that started from a personal interest in contemporary art - the emerging art scene specifically - and slowly became a passion/obsession for research. I realized that it wasn't just a hobby, but something I was devoting almost all my time and focus. At that point, I decided to turn my professional life in this direction to discover, support, and promote the new generation of emerging artists. I had the feeling that this was what I was supposed to do in my life, and I started to learn the profession both by attending curating courses and by learning in the field the many unsaid rules, and I started creating my own network of artists by making studio visits all over Europe.
It's definitely a challenging choice to enter as an outsider into a very closed system like the art world. However, I think if when you get home in the evening, you're tired but happy, you know you've made the right choice for yourself.
“I decided to turn my professional life in this direction to discover, support, and promote the new generation of emerging artists. ”
Alison: What is the inspiration behind the name G/ART/EN?
Camilla: It's a German word meaning garden. German, because it came to my mind when I was living in Zurich, and it refers to my desire for an open and inclusive gallery for the local community, where I can cultivate the artworks as well and support the career of my young emerging artists in the future.
Alison: G/ART/EN is not only situated in your hometown of Como, but also in a personally significant building. Could you explain some of the building’s history and how this has influenced what you choose to show in the space?
Camilla: Yes, my grandparents bought the space where the gallery is now located in the 1960s and opened the first bookshop in town and also a small independent publishing house. Since then, from generation to generation, the space lives on new lives, and I am proud to carry on this tradition with my gallery. As an architect, I renovated the building to create an iconic and flexible space that would help me enhance individual works of art.
Karolina Maszkiewicz, Capricci di equilibrio
Installation View
It's curious that you asked me this question because the building's history has never directly influenced the choice of artists. Recently, I have defined an agreement with a co-curator and a new artist who works precisely with the theme of books. We decided to take inspiration from the history of the building and my family for a future exhibition. For now, I can't reveal more, so follow the gallery to find out!
Alison: You mentioned visiting artists’ studios all over Europe, is this your main way of discovering emerging talent?
Camilla: I do a studio visit after discovering the artist to help me get to know the work in more detail and establish a more personal relationship with the artist.
The initial research involves basically going through magazines committed to supporting emerging artists like FOA, blog, or Instagram and staying up to date with the curatorial programs of other young galleries that I find particularly interesting.
Alison: Your gallery recently reopened with an exhibition entitled ‘Pliegue’, following the Covid-19 lockdown. During the gallery’s closure, how did you reflect on the direction you want to take G/ART/EN next?
Camilla: During the lockdown, the predominant theme of reflection for all actors in the art world has been digital. It is certainly an important resource to use, and since our first exhibition, long before Covid-19, the gallery has had a partnership with Artland to recreate a 3D virtual tour of each exhibition, for those collectors abroad who for obvious reasons cannot physically come to the gallery. However, talking about the digital and art, I think it is more interesting to look at the theme from another point of view and start to recognize the value of new digital art languages. For example, for my gallery's participation at SWAB Art Fair in October 2020 - which will be a digital fair with virtual navigation in 3D that reconstructs the real pavilion - I have specifically chosen to exhibit a solo show by Gioele Amaro, a digital painter. It seemed to be the perfect opportunity to propose a reflection about the future of art and its new languages. I decided not to propose virtual representations of artworks, but to present original artworks digitally created in and for virtual reality.
That said, I can't deny that I missed the physical contact with the works a lot during the closure of the gallery and the visits to the gallery itself. For this reason, for the physical space of the gallery, I decided to work on the opposite front and with 'Pliegue,' propose an exhibition that would humanize the experience of visiting the gallery after this long period of viewing rooms. For the whole month of July, the gallery will be transformed into the atelier of artist Jaime Poblete. It will be possible by appointment to visit him for an unusual studio visit!
Alison: Pliegue is in some ways a collaborative exhibition between Jaime Poblete and Jacopo Valentini. Could you talk about the performance and how the artists are continuing to interact with each other and the space for the duration of the exhibition?
Camilla: It is exactly a collaborative exhibition. Poblete has created a site-specific installation that has a performative character. For the duration of the exhibition, every Thursday, he will be present in the gallery and will change the arrangement of his own installation. For this reason, as curator I invited Jacopo, an artist photographer, to crystallize in images this volubility that is in the nature of the exhibition. Jacopo's photographs were all taken during the opening performance and now in the shortest possible time we are producing and exhibiting them alongside Poblete's works. It is therefore a series of photos completely symbiotic with Jaime's work, and between the two artists a beautiful connection has been established (fortunately!) since they did not know each other before! I think that Jacopo has been able to give a particularly interesting reading to the show: taking pictures that focus on the most "functional" supports of Poblete's works he elevated them to works
of art themselves by making them the main subject in his photos, for example in the poster that iconizes the counterweight of the flags installed on the ceiling.
As you can understand, it's a very experimental exhibition format – honestly, we had to improvise a bit ourselves, especially during the Opening Performance! Because of the Covid-19 restrictions we couldn't host a traditional vernissage inside the gallery, so we bypassed the problem with creativity. The artists were the only ones inside the space, and with theatricality they took possession of the gallery by installing the works.
It was interesting to see the reaction of the audience, who watched from outside through the large windows: they didn't know what to expect from this situation outside of their habits, and this stimulated even more curiosity and the desire to access the exhibition later on. I had a lot of fun stimulating some healthy discomfort!
Alison: What an ingenious way to safely hold a performance! Normally, how do you engage the public to interact with the gallery, exhibitions and events happening?
Camilla: I try to keep the gallery Instagram account always up to date, and I also try to be as inclusive as possible in telling the life of the gallery. Otherwise with newsletters and promoting exhibitions with trade magazines.
To increase the engagement of the local community, I also occasionally organize events in the gallery, such as performances, yoga or breakfasts with a visit to the exhibition. The idea of these events is to work in synergy with the exhibitions, with the aim of increasing people’s involvement to contemporary art.
Installation View of Pliegue