| “A London-based writer and multi-disciplinary artist with a minimal online presence, Husni-Bey is one of ArteFiera’s most intriguing new talents.” |
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Yerbossyn Meldibekov e Nurbossyn Oris, My brother my enemy, 2001. Courtesy of Nina Lumer, Milano (G.L.O.W. Platform).Santiago Ydanez, Untitled, 2009. Courtesy of Galeria Sandunga, Granada.
ArteFiera Spotlight
Claudia Eve Beauchesne
Now in its 35th year, Bologna’s ArteFiera Art First 2011 included over 200 exhibitors presenting the usual mix of works by established artists and newcomers; notably Marlon de Azambuja’s bird cages replicating the architecture of contemporary museums—institutional critique with live budgies! Of the fair’s many satellite events, the most intriguing was a city-wide exhibition entitled If on a winter’s day a traveller…, curated by Julia Draganovic. Inspired by Italo Calvino’s 1979 novel of the same title; the circuit attempted to form a dialogue with Bologna’s past through installations and performances held in historic locations.
But while some works successfully played off the city’s architecture, industry, and artistic tradition (especially New York duo Ghost of a Dream’s recreation of the Museo della Sanità’s floor with lottery tickets), the impact was often dulled by velvet ropes and temporary walls segregating the work from its surroundings. Presented midway through ArteFiera, this year’s Euromobil Under 30 Prize went to 25-year-old Adelita Husni-Bey for a haunting charcoal drawing depicting a boy carrying another youth on his back as an ominous mushroom cloud forms in the distance. A London-based writer and multi-disciplinary artist with a minimal online presence, Husni-Bey is one of ArteFiera’s most intriguing new talents.
