A new space for contemporary art opens in Veneto: the Bonollo Foundation

There is a new space forcontemporary art in Veneto : it is the Sandra and Giancarlo Bonollo Foundation for Contemporary Art, which officially opened its activities with the opening of its exhibition space in the Dimesse Monastery in Thiene (Vicenza). The first exhibitions organized are Lessico Famigliare, a group show curated by Chiara Nuzzi, and Vegetal Devotion, a solo show by artist Isabella Ducrot curated by Marta Papini.

Established in 2023 as a nonprofit institution, the Foundation aims to promote contemporary art and emerging new artistic languages. After more than 30 years of collecting, founders Giancarlo Bonollo and Sandra Dal Santo wish to share their experience with the territory, creating an exhibition center that will become an international reference point for contemporary art.

The foundation organizes an exhibition program structured in two parallel projects, overseen by the two curators Nuzzi and Paini. Nuzzi’s program focuses on works donated from the Bonollo family’s private collection, while Papini’s program presents solo exhibitions of contemporary and emerging artists. The two curators are very young: Chiara Nuzzi, from Naples, born in 1986, is a curator, author and editorial manager, and has curated exhibitions for Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro and Fondazione ICA Milan, working with public and private institutions both in Italy and abroad. Marta Papini, from Reggio Emilia, born in 1985, an independent curator, has worked on various public art projects and collaborated with several international institutions, including the Biennale Gherdeina, the Venice Biennale (she was artistic organizer of the 59th edition, in 2022) and the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT.

All exhibitions will take place in the foundation’s exhibition space located in the Dimesse monastery complex, founded in 1613 by the five daughters of Count Antonio Porto and Countess Margherita Caldogno. The building, which includes the church of the Conception of the Virgin Mary, now deconsecrated (it is a building dating back to 1720, built on an earlier chapel from 1673), has been restored to maintain the harmony between ancient and modern and provide the foundation with a 300-square-meter exhibition space. The restoration work on the building (which, after having been a monastery, became the headquarters of the Nordera Medico-Pedagogical Institute in the second half of the 20th century and then the headquarters of Ulss until 2015), respected the historical elements, such as the carved wooden portal and the polychrome marble altar.

The inaugural exhibitions

The group exhibition Lessico Famigliare presents works by thirteen international artists (Paweł Althamer, Ed Atkins, Neïl Beloufa, Patrizio Di Massimo, Claire Fontaine, Louisa Gagliardi, Tracey Moffatt, Frida Orupabo, Cally Spooner, Cathy Wilkes), collected by Sandra and Giancarlo Bonollo since the 1990s. The title of the exhibition is inspired by Natalia Ginzburg’s novel, and like the book, the exhibition explores themes of memory and identity through a “familiar visual and emotional grammar,” as the curator explains that interweaves personal and collective stories. The works, created between 1995 and 2020, reflect on intimate and universal relationships, chronicling the complexity of human existence. “The works presented in the Foundation’s spaces, created between 1995 and 2020,” Nuzzi explains, “on the one hand run through a personal story, punctuating that exclusive and unique lexicon that characterizes not only biological and blood ties, but all affective relationships capable of generating intimate and supportive collectivities, albeit not without friction and tension. On the other hand, through a broader and more universal reading, the works set up often penetrate Ia History, Italian and international, evoking and recounting universal social events. The exhibition thus recounts relationships, collective and individual, intimate and shared, probing the complexities of human existence and its feelings, blurring the boundaries between art and everyday life.”

The other exhibition, Vegetal Devotion, a solo show by Isabella Ducrot (Naples, 1931), curated by Marta Papini, showcases potted plants and flowers created with paper and fabric scraps, woolen threads and embroidery. The Neapolitan artist’s unique compositions incorporate ancient materials collected during her travels in Asia and pay homage to writing and calligraphy. One work in particular, a triptych, includes a text written by the artist that expresses feelings of helplessness and despondency, conveying a form of silent prayer and devotion to the mystery of life. “Each composition is unrepeatable,” Papini says, “because it draws from an archive of ancient materials, collected by the artist over the years during his many trips to Asia. The works designed for the exhibition in Thiene pay homage in particular to writing and the art of calligraphy, incorporating fragments of epistolary correspondence sewn onto textiles.”

The Foundation is open to the public Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Wednesday by appointment. Visits are possible by reservation. Admission is free. For information you can visit the Foundation’s website.

A new space for contemporary art opens in Veneto: the Bonollo Foundation

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