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The Unbearable Lightness of Being

25 April - 13 July 2019
London
While Tornabuoni Art is well-known for presenting museum-quality Italian post-war art, the curator Fatoş Üstek, drawing inspiration from the homonymous novel by the Czech-born, French writer Milan Kundera, has looked at a wide and international array of artists in the collection, who experimented with untraditional media and new and influential artistic positions. The curator has sought to link works through a conceptual, rather than chronological thread, juxtaposing works by artists of different generations and nationalities and creating new dialogues between them. Although Üstek is a specialist in contemporary art, she is drawn to art of the post-war period, finding that it offers fertile ground for looking at a world of social and political unrest and for exploring human relationships and tensions through the lens of artistic experimentation.
‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’ is twofold: it explores the idea of ‘something higher’, in Kundera’s words, in life and expresses the struggles and tensions that come with it – similar to the artistic processes of production. I was impressed to discover the Tornabuoni Collection, begun in Florence by the gallery founder Roberto Casamonti, and its wide range of interests. I am drawn to art of the 20th century and especially to the post-war era, which is important for understanding the art of today. In my career, I mainly work with living artists. With this exhibition I had the fortunate opportunity to explore a new terrain, and to work with art historical documents and narratives, discovering beautiful artworks by seminal artists along the way.
Press release

selection of works

David Hockney, Gregory and Shinro on the train,1983, collages, photographs, 96x106 cm
Mimmo Rotella, Salvato dalle acque, 1955, back of posters on hardboard, glue, mold, 29x36 cm
Christo, Running Fence (Project for Sonoma and Marin County. State of California), 1975, mixed media on cardboard on board and plexiglass, 144x244 cm
Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale, 1956, olio, mixed media and sequins on canvas, 80x70 cm
Dadamaino, Passo dopo passo (Blù), 1989, polyester stain, 151x116 cm
Gino De Dominicis, Nuvole, 1985 ca., painting on gold sheet on wood, 23.7x37.5 cm
Pier Paolo Calzolari, Senza titolo, 2000, salt, tobacco, lead, petals and mixed media on cardboard brought onto a board, 70x102 cm
Willem De Kooning, Souvenir of Rome, (1960), ink on canvas, 60x48 cm
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