Cortesi Contemporary is pleased to present Out of the Blue, a group exhibition featuring internationally renowned artists, including several leading figures of today’s contemporary art scene.
The gallery continues its exhibition journey begun with Arte Italiana ’60–’90, shifting its focus toward the 2000s. Conceived by curator Alberto Salvadori, the path unfolds through a selection of highly resonant works drawn from Stefano Cortesi’s private collection. With this exhibition, the inaugural curatorial vision—centered around the private collection and the idea of collecting—comes to a close.
The aim of the exhibition is to offer a perspective on the contemporary: an emotional journey through recent international artistic experiences, exploring works of strong visual and conceptual impact. An unprecedented interplay of cultures, techniques, and visions places the viewer before the same emotional reaction—“Out of the Blue”—experienced by the collector when encountering an artwork.
The exhibition title takes inspiration from an American television series aired in 1979, which marked a significant shift in television history. The artists featured “are among the most representative of recent generations, and many of them have contributed—and continue to contribute—to a profound and unavoidable transformation in the worlds of art and representation,” writes curator Alberto Salvadori in the catalogue’s introductory text.
The exhibition opens with a work by Roberto Cuoghi, which serves as “the gateway to the show, as his works appear to emerge from different minds, as if flowing from a complex narrative system made of relationships and ever-new constructions of reality, dense with complexity,” Salvadori writes. Cuoghi’s work thus ushers visitors into the show’s narrative, which unfolds through artists in dynamic dialogue with one another.
It is a journey in which the search for balance in Haris Epaminonda’s sculpture approaches the fluid contortions of Markus Schinwald; where the ironic subversion of human behavior in space by Elmgreen & Dragset engages with the irreverent communicative force of Maurizio Cattelan; where the exploration of space and surface establishes relationships among the works of Anselm Reyle, Ned Vena, and Jacob Kassay, ultimately leading to the objectification of the image–artwork relationship in Paola Pivi’s practice.
The exhibition brings together different languages and expressive techniques in an elegant trajectory, creating a free encounter among personalities who question and reflect upon our present.
Artists on show:
Rosa Barba, Will Benedict, Kerstin Brätsch, Matthew Brannon, Maurizio Cattelan, Dan Colen, Roberto Cuoghi, Elmgreen & Dragset, Haris Epaminonda, Wade Guyton, Elad Lassry, Jacob Kassay, Jason Martin, Paola Pivi, Anselm Reyle, Markus Schinwald, Ned Vena, Francesco Vezzoli.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Mousse Publishing, featuring a text by Alberto Salvadori, Artistic Director of the Marino Marini Museum in Florence, who will be present for the occasion.