19th Premio Cairo
On 15 October in Milan, in the prestigious halls of the Palazzo Reale, the award ceremony for the 19th Premio Cairo was held, organised by the editorial staff of Cairo Editore's monthly magazine Art.
Selected artists
Selected artists:
Giuseppe Abate, Paolo Amico, Romina Bassu, Thomas Berra, Paolo Brambilla, Alessandro Calabrese, Gabriella Ciancimino, Valentina Colella, Fabrizio Cotognini, Matteo Fato, Daniele Franzella, Oscar Giaconia, Sophie Ko, Christian Leperino, Iva Lulashi, Carlo Miele, Isabella Nazzarri, Edoardo Piermattei, Nazzarena Poli Maramotti, Giorgio Tentolini.
The Jury
Declaring the victory of Fabrizio Cotognini's work, chosen from among the 20 artists under 40 selected by the editorial staff of Arte, was the prestigious jury of the 2018 Cairo Prize chaired by Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, President of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation of Turin, and composed of: Luca Massimo Barbero, Director of the Institute of Art History at the Cini Foundation in Venice; Mariolina Bassetti, President of Christie's Italia; Bruno Corà, art historian and critic, President of the Palazzo Albizzini-Collezione Burri Foundation in Città di Castello; Gianfranco Maraniello, Director of the MART in Rovereto; Mimmo Paladino International artist and protagonist of the Italian Transavanguardia.
The winner
Fabrizio Cotognini wins the 19th Cairo Prize with the work Aurora, 2018, pencils, ink, white lead, mylar and 24k gold, on original 18th century engravings, cm 70x100x12 each, and artist's book, cm 25x190.
Born in 1983 in Macerata. Lives and works in Civitanova Marche (MC).
Exhibitions include:
2018 Evidence, a new state of art, National gallery, Tbilisi (Georgia).
2017 Disio. Nostalgia del futuro, Italian Cultural Institute, Caracas (Venezuela).
From left, Filippo Del Corno, Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Milan, Fabrizio Cotognini, winner of the 19th Cairo Prize, Urbano Cairo, President of Cairo Editore and Michele Bonuomo, Director of the monthly magazines Arte and Antiquariato.
Aurora 2018, matite, inchiostro, biacca, mylar e oro 24k, su incisioni originali del XVIII secolo, cm 70x100x12 ciascuna, e libro d'artista, cm 25x190 Foto Massi Ninn
Pencils, ink, white lead, mylar and 24k gold, on original 18th-century engravings, cm 70x100x12 each, and artist's book, cm 25x190.
Award-winning work
Starting from ancient original engravings taken from famous works by great masters such as Guercino and Guido Reni, Fabrizio Cotognini elaborates new icons inspired by literature and alchemy. In Aurora, the artist in fact intervenes on ancient prints taken from the frescoes of the allegory of Aurora, both painted in Rome, by Guercino, in the Villa Ludovisi, and by Reni, in the Casino dell'Aurora Pallavicini.
Cotognini uses pencil, ink, white lead and gold leaf to bring to light the geometries hidden in the two compositions, also introducing words, drawings and other images, taken from popular culture, into his work. An example of this are the recurring flowers in the two engravings, also included in pencil in the artist's book, which constitutes the third compositional element of the work, which combine to form an imaginary circle, revealing an underlying symbology: the natural and unchanging cycle of time.
Award citation
The winning work, Aurora, was awarded with the following motivation: "For the ability to harmonize in a contemporary key art history and popular culture through the filter of alchemy, literature, cultured painting and, last but not least, beauty."