Cinema in Piazza 2024
July 11, 2024
Magazzino Italian Art presents the 7th iteration of the Cinema in Piazza series, presented in partnership with Artecinema
Cold Spring, New York, July 11, 2024 — Magazzino will open its central outdoor gathering space to the stars—and to the visions of Italian filmmakers—for its annual Cinema in Piazza series, starting on July 20. This year’s program will present ten documentaries across two weekends in July and August, focusing on two groups of renowned Italian post-war artists and their contributions.
Arte Povera and Transvanguardia explores how these major movements—often seen as competitors, but here presented in dialogue—shaped the evolution of post-war and contemporary Italian art. The series also demonstrates the evolution of Magazzino itself, which from its inception has dedicated the Main Building to the core collection of Arte Povera that defines the museum, while now using the more recent Robert Olnick Pavilion to present exhibitions of a wide range of other artists and trends in Italian art.
All screenings take place in the courtyard of Magazzino’s Main Building and begin at dusk. Tickets are $15 general admission; free for Amici di Magazzino and Council members. Tickets available on magazzino.art
Coinciding with Cinema in Piazza, Chef Luca will prepare a barbecue on the evening of each event, beginning at 5:30 pm. Guests will have the option to join the barbecue for $25, and there will be a cash bar.
Saturday, July 20
Marinella Senatore. The School of Narrative Dance, Napoli
Domenico Palma (2020, 12min.)
This short film focuses on The School of Narrative Dance, which provides an education based on emancipation, inclusion, and self-cultivation. The school has worked in more than 15 countries and involved some five million people, including activists, amateur and professional workers, dancers, choreographers, actors, and poets in an atmosphere of shared knowledge. The film is narrated by the school’s founder, Marinella Senatore.
Arte Povera. Notes for History
Andrea Bettinetti (2023, 90 min.)
This documentary sheds light on how Arte Povera has profoundly influenced the development of contemporary art and how its values continue to be as relevant and inspirational to modern society as they were at the inception.
Sunday, July 21
Carlo Scarpa: Timeless Masterpieces
Domenico Palma (2024, 8 min.)
This short film, produced by Magazzino Italian Art and narrated by Marino Barovier, highlights the exceptional journey of Carlo Scarpa in Murano over nearly twenty years of collaboration, between 1926 and 1942, with the two most prestigious glass makers of the period. The film was made on the occasion of the current exhibition at Magazzino’s Robert Olnick Pavilion, Carlo Scarpa: Timeless Masterpieces, which presents 56 glassworks from The Olnick Spanu Collection of 20th Century Murano glass.
Pino
Walter Fasano (2020, 60min.)
This film tells the story of how the Pascali Museum in Polignano a Mare bought and exhibited Five Bristle Worms and a Cocoon, a work made at the pinnacle of his career by Pino Pascali, —who was a native of the town.
Luciano Fabro
Giampaolo Penco (1997, 57min.)
This 1997 documentary about Luciano Fabro is interwoven with archival footage from the artist’s childhood, visits to his studio, and conversations between Fabro and his students. Also included is footage of the artist installing his work at the Venice Biennale and the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, ending with a walkthrough of Fabro’s retrospective at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, in 1996–97.
Saturday, August 17
ABOrismi. Portraits and Self-Portrait
Nunzio Massimo Nifosì (2022, 7min.)
This short film is a brief, brilliant and dadaist tribute to one of the most renowned historians, curators, and art critics of the past fifty years, and an advocate for the Transavanguardia movement, Achille Bonito Oliva.
Aldo Rossi Design
Francesca Molteni, Mattia Colombo (2022, 41 min.)
Rare archival materials and videos, never-before-viewed testimonials, images and family albums, together with the writings of the great architect, compose the first video narration dedicated to Aldo Rossi. An inclusive account featuring drawings, projects, prototypes, furniture and objects, are presented together for the first time in the Aldo Rossi Design 1960-1997 exhibition at Museo del ’900 in Milan, in 2022. Twenty-five years after his death, the film explores the architect’s legacy in the history of design, the ties between design, objects and architecture, his relationship with industry, the technicians and the factories where his designs are manufactured.
Mimmo Paladino. The Language of Signs
Nunzio Massimo Nifosì (2022, 60min.)
This film follows the course of the career of Transavanguardia sculptor and painter Mimmo Paladino, looking at his works from engraving to collages and his interests in cinema and theater.
Sunday, August 18
The Power of the Archive. Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Francesca Molteni (2018, 35min.)
This film is a plunge into the Fondazione Renzo Piano archives in Genoa, looking at the genesis of several major architectural projects, including the Palais de Justice and the Centre Pompidou in Paris; the Manhattanville campus at Columbia University; and the Morgan Library and the New York Times Building in New York.
Ettore Spalletti
Alessandra Galletta (2019, 90min.)
The documentary reveals the daily life of Ettore Spalletti, methodical, contemplative, almost motionless in the places where he lived and which inspired him such as Pescara, his house in Spoltore, his studio in Cappelle sul Tavo, the mountains, the sea and the sky of Abruzzo; it also spotlights his public image through the numerous exhibitions presented in leading international galleries and museums.
About Magazzino Italian Art
Magazzino Italian Art is a museum and research center dedicated to advancing scholarship and public appreciation of postwar and contemporary Italian art in the United States. Located in Cold Spring, New York, the museum was founded by Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu.
In 2017, the first building, designed by architect Miguel Quismondo and set within several landscaped acres of the Hudson Highlands, was inaugurated with an exhibition drawn from the Olnick Spanu Collection and dedicated to Margherita Stein, founder of the historic Galleria Christian Stein in Milan and a key advocate and supporter of the artists associated with Arte Povera.
In 2023, Magazzino inaugurated its Research Center, named for the art critic and historian who gave Arte Povera its name. Created as an educational nonprofit museum, Magazzino Italian Art increased its indoor space by two-thirds in September 2023 by opening the freestanding Robert Olnick Pavilion, designed by architects Alberto Campo Baeza and Miguel Quismondo and named in memory of Nancy Olnick’s father. This new building provides a multipurpose room with auditorium capabilities, a store, and Café Silvia serving Italian cuisine by Italian Chef Luca Galli.
About Artecinema
Artecinema is an international contemporary art film festival curated by Laura Trisorio and established in Naples in 1996 with the objective of introducing the general public to the various expressions of contemporary art through a selection of documentaries dedicated to the leading artists, architects and photographers on the international scene. Biographies, interviews, and narratives assembled with archival material allow the audience to delve into the world of art and observe artists at work in their ateliers, behind the scenes of important projects and international exhibitions.
Some thirty documentaries - divided into three sections: art and environs, architecture and design, photography – are screened during the festival. The selection of films is sought out the world over through directors, artists and producers who are invited to personally present the films which are of the highest quality, have not been widely distributed and are not easily accessible.
Each October the inaugural night of the festival is held at the Teatro San Carlo and the Teatro Augusteo is the setting for the following days.
Artecinema works together with international institutions and provides an opportunity for a learning experience as well as social gathering and cultural exchange.