One of the most singular figures in Italian post-World War II art, ‘an artist who moves in a vacuum’ as Germano Celant defined him, Prini seems to elude, perhaps intentionally, any possible definition. Starting with over forty works from 1966 to 2016, the core of the first retrospective since his death, held at the Fondazione Merz from 28 October 2019 to 9 February 2020, this volume activates a critical and historical reflection on the experience of one of the most interesting and discussed representatives of Arte Povera. A transgressive position, that of Prini, or if we want orthodox towards artistic practice and the codes of the art system that teaches the possibility of grasping the value of contradiction and doubt. A passage of art and the artist into life, or rather as he himself defined ‘not action but biological extension of the self’, into contemporaneity that distinguishes a work of extreme topicality and ready for confrontation with the new generations.

The book, edited by Beatrice Merz, includes an unpublished text by Luca Lo Pinto, a historical and never published dialogue between the artist and Hans Ulrich Obrist, and a rich anthology with texts by Adachiara Zevi, Germano Celant and Lorenzo Benedetti. The book benefits from a rich iconographic apparatus, with over 150 images of works and documents.

Emilio Prini (Stresa, 1943 - Rome, 2016) was a leading figure in Arte Povera, one of the most influential and radical recent art movements, strongly connected to the political and social context of the second half of the 20th century.

A green thread links the cherry blossoms in Japan to the gum trees of Malaysia, the botanical gardens of Singapore and the destroyed Perfect Brightness - a green thread that defines the anthropocene and the way nature is plundered, for its immediate utility and to create symbolism in step with current ideologies.
In this volume we look at the stories of our times, seen through the petals of flowers chosen to represent a nation, with the desire to bend a small fragrant corolla to ideologies useful to those in government at the time. They are also the stories of how our poetic images clash against our inability to live without destroying what surrounds us. Through the symbolism of flowers and gardens we talk about politics and history, colonialism and ecology, nationalism and authoritarianism, in an anthropocene short-circuit.

Ilaria Maria Sala is a writer, journalist, poet and ceramist, and has lived in Asia since 1988. She completed her studies in Beijing and London, then moved to Tokyo, and later based in Hong Kong - meanwhile spending long periods in Shanghai, Kathmandu and Dakar. She is the author of four books: the first, Il Dio dell'Asia, religione e politica in Oriente (Il Saggiatore, 2006) won the Brice Chatwin Prize for travel literature; Lettere dalla Cina (Una Città, 2011); Beijing 1989 (Una Città, 2019); L'Eclissi di Hong Kong, topografia di una città in tumulto (ADD Editore, 2022). He contributes to numerous newspapers, both Italian and international, including Il Domani, Internazionale, Il Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, The South China Morning Post, and many others, and is a member of the Lettera 22 association of journalists.

Guide to the work of the famous English artist and the exhibition at the Venaria Reale (Turin) from 31th October 2024

William Blake (1757-1827) is a leading figure in British art and literature. Ignored when he was alive, his visionary works in painting, print and watercolour have inspired entire generations and are now recognised as a unique contribution to world culture.

The catalogue of the exhibition held at La Venaria Reale offers a selection of his finest works from the collection of the Tate UK, set in the context of a convulsive moment in British art, imagination and history. Blake lived through a revolutionary period, a time of radical transformation of ideas about art and the imagination, in which artists pushed art into new and unexplored imaginary territories.

Blake's timeless images are juxtaposed with those of the artists who most inspired and influenced him, including Henry Fuseli, Benjamin West and John Hamilton Mortimer.

The volume is accompanied by in-depth texts on William Blake, on some of the artists close to him and on the artistic current of Romanticism by David Blayney Brown and Alice Insley.

Exhibition Blake e la sua epoca. Viaggi nel tempo del sogno (Blake and His Age. Journeys in Dreamtime)

La Venaria Reale, Venaria, Turin, 31th October 2024 - 2nd February 2025

The book Arte contemporanea: Scusi, non capisco ('Contemporary Art: Sorry, I Don't Understand') originates from a famous format of the Merz Foundation in Turin, a series of events during which the public was led to listen to and interact with exceptional guests from different artistic fields. The project, based on an idea by Maria Centonze, aimed to meet the general public's need for a better understanding of the languages and thinking behind contemporary works of art.
Each one of us, if stripped of the many prejudices that hinder openness to any world other than our own, can and must try to understand, even in the way of art.
Costantino D'Orazio, art curator, museum director and cultural popularizer, takes readers on a journey through the ‘Scusi, non capisco’ - among others - of Serena Dandini, Andrea Zalone, Lucia Goracci, Ascanio Celestini and Maria Grazia Cucinotta.

Costantino D'Orazio (Rome, 1974), art historian, is the director of the National Museums of Perugia and the Regional Directorate of National Museums of Umbria. He worked at the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali as resident curator at the MACRO in Rome from 2014 to 2018; from 2008 to 2012 he was curator of contemporary art exhibitions at the National Museum of Villa Pisani in Stra. Recently, he curated the initiative 5 minutes with Van Gogh, the exhibition Artemisia Gentileschi. Coraggio e Passione at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa and Amarsi. Love in Art from Guido Reni to Banksy at the Fondazione Cassa di Rispamio di Terni. Since 2014, he has hosted the column AR Frammenti d'Arte on Rainews24 and is the art expert for Unomattina in famiglia and Linea Verde on Rai1, Geo and TG3 Linea Notte on Rai3. He is the author and host of the programmes Wikiradio and Vite che sono la tua on Radio3, as well as collaborating with the programme Radio3 Suite. From 2014 to 2019 he hosted the cultural popularisation programme Bella davvero and in 2021 the programme Due cose on Radio2. His latest publication as an author is Art Detectives. 30 cases to become real experts (Piemme, 2024).