PRESS RELEASE

30 years of Artist’s Books celebrate great Poetry

CAMeC Centre of Modern and Contemporary Art | La Spezia July21 –September23, 2018 Opening: July 20 at 6.30 p.m. Press Conference: July19 at 10.45 a.m.

From 20 July 2018, the CAMeC proposes an important, novel exhibition dedicated to artist’s books. Artist’s books are complex, multiform, highly fascinating works of art; they first emerged as a product of the explosive creativity of the historical avant-garde movements, and they were produced throughout the 20th century and are still produced today in their great variety of forms. In this specialised exhibition deriving from an authoritative scientific collaboration, the protagonists are on the one hand the refined products of the publishing house Edizioni d’Arte Colophon, founded by Egidio Fiorin in 1988, and on the other great poetry as traditionally explored and indicated by the Premio Lerici Pea (Pea Lerici Prize). On display are 35 volumes of art and poetry, precious books-cum-objects which Lucilla Del Santo and Egidio Fiorin have chosen from the 103 titles so far in the catalogue.

The exhibition was conceived by the Assocazione Lerici Pea Golfo dei Poeti in collaboration with Edizioni d’Arte Colophon publications, and its aim is in fact to celebrate the relationship between the Poetry Prize, a cultural fixture of the La Spezia area, and Colophonarte, the highly specialised publishing house from Belluno, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Since 1988 Egidio Fiorin, and since 1952 the Lerici Pea Award have recognised and exalted the work of artists and poets working in various contexts. The exhibition and the selection of the books constitute an ideal coming-together of two cultural initiatives and of the numerous poets and artists who over the years have received the prize and have been published: Adonis, Caproni, Bertolucci, De Angelis, Luzi, Sanguineti, Conte, Patrikios, Grasso, Magrelli, Cucchi, Govoni and other great names of poetry, interacting with Enrico Baj, Emilio Vedova, Enrico Castellani, Agostino Bonalumi, Mimmo Paladino, Lucio Del Pezzo, Giuseppe Maraniello, Jannis Kounellis, Pino Spagnulo, Ugo Nespolo, Piero Dorazio, Nicola De Maria and many others, often bound also by friendship, which in this case becomes a creative partnership.

The following is the complete list of poets: Adonis, Dante Alighieri, Guillaume Apollinaire, Guido Ballo, , Michel Butor, Giorgio Caproni, Marco Ceriani, Giuseppe Conte, Maurizio Cucchi, Serena Dal Borgo, Milo De Angelis,

Antonio de Villena, Gillo Dorfles, Gabriele Frasca, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Corrado Govoni, Sebastiano Grasso, Riccardo Held, Massimo Lenzi, Giacomo Leopardi, , Paolo Maccari, , , Omero, Isabella Panfido, Alessandro Parronchi, Giovanni Pascoli, Titos Patrikios, Francesco Petrarca, , Antonio Riccardi, Edoardo Sanguineti, Camillo Sbarbaro, Toti Scialoja, Percy Bysshe Shelley, GézaSzöcs, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Patrizia Valduga, Paul Verlaine, , William Butler Yeats, and of the artists in the show: Valerio Adami, Eduardo Arroyo, Kengiro Azuma, Enrico Baj, Fabrizio Barbi, Agostino Bonalumi, Enrico Castellani, Hsiao Chin, Nicola De Maria, Lucio Del Pezzo, Piero Dorazio, Gianfranco Ferroni, Franco Fontana, Federica Galli, Piero Guccione, Emilio Isgrò, Jannis Kounellis, Riccardo Licata, Giuseppe Maraniello, Carlo Mattioli, Anton Zoran Music, Ugo Nespolo, Mimmo Paladino, Giulio Paolini, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Giò Pomodoro, Leonardo Rosa, Toti Scialoja, Ferdinando Scianna, Medhat Shafik, Giuseppe Spagnulo, Mauro Staccioli, Simona Uberto, Walter Valentini, Emilio Vedova, Claude Viallat, Giuseppe Zigaina.

The CAMeC has inserted a stimulating counterpoint, a precious digression into the exhibition, enriching it and amplifying the harmonious kinship of talents: works from the CAMeC collections which, since they are done by the same artists, reflect the visual and graphic content of the pages on show: Valerio Adami, Enrico Baj, Enrico Castellani, Lucio Del Pezzo, Pietro Dorazio, Emilio Isgrò, JannisKounellis, Riccardo Licata, Carlo Mattioli, Zoran Music, Ugo Nespolo, Mimmo Paladino, Giulio Paolini, Walter Valentini.

CREDITS and INFO

Exhibition promoted by La Spezia Municipality Mayor, Pierluigi Peracchini Councillor for Culture, Paolo Asti

Association Prize Lerici Pea Golfo dei Poeti

Art Editions Colophon

e prodotta da CAMeC Centre of Modern and Contemporary Art Director of Museums and Cultural Services, Marzia Ratti

Studio Nealinea and Partners, Firenze - La Spezia

Under the patronage of Regione Liguria

Supported by

and for Association Prize Lerici Pea Golfo dei Poeti: Euroguarco, Sepor, Sernav, Spigas

CONTACTS and INFO Title:30 years of Artist’s Books celebrate great Poetry Curated by: Lucilla Del Santo - Studio Nealinea and Partners, Firenze - La Spezia and Egidio Fiorin –Art Editions Colophon, Belluno Opening:July20 at 6.30 p.m. Press Conference: July 19 at 10.45 p.m. Where: CAMeC Centre of Modern and Contemporary Art - La Spezia (IT) - Piazza Cesare Battisti 1 Date: from July 21 to September 23, 2018 Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed on Monday Contacts: ph. +39 0187 727530 | email: [email protected] Information: ph. +39 0187 727530, [email protected],http://camec.museilaspezia.it Press Office La Spezia Municipality: Luca Della Torre | Tel. +39 0187 727324 | [email protected] Press Office Association Prize Lerici Pea Golfo dei Poeti: Alice Barontini | [email protected]|ph. +39 375 5983793 Scientific coordination CAMeC: Marzia Ratti and Eleonora Acerbi, Cinzia Compalati General coordination Association Prize Lerici Pea Golfo dei Poeti: Alice Lorgna Graphic design: Sarah Fontana, Carrara | Studio Nealinea and Partners, Firenze - La Spezia CAMeC Administration: Giacomo Borrotti Installation:Studio Nealinea and Partners, Firenze - La Spezia | Cooperativa Zoe, La Spezia photos by: Enrico Amici, La Spezia translations: Susan Charlton A special thanks to: Sebastiano Grasso; Adriana Beverini - Presidente pt e Pia Spagiari |PierginoScardigli - AssociationPrizeLerici Pea Golfo dei Poeti, Amici del Lerici Pea; Davide Bommino, Sara Guaschino, Mauro e Lucia Pesce, Chiara Trovato.