FONDAZIONE / STIFTUNG
Press release
After the success of public and critic obtained at the Schauwerk Sindelfingen and at the
Stadtgalerie Kiel, the exhibition for the VI VAF Foundation Award. Current Positions of
Italian art will be hosted in Palazzo della Penna in Perugia from November 29th, 2014 to
January 25th, 2015 thanks to the positive collaboration with the Comune di Perugia, Teresa
Severini - Councilor for Culture, Tourism and University and the Direction of the Museum. The
choice of Perugia and of the venue represent for the Umbrian capital a new opportunity for
the international projection, which confirms the cultural vitality of the city. The thought lingers
on themes of contemporary on a journey intended to meet the needs of a wide audience.
Topics that the Administration want to increase by selecting, for the next future, exhibitions of
high quality, future goals of the Palazzo della Penna. During this last stage of the exhibition
will be declared the winner of this edition award which comes with some new features. In fact,
the VAF Foundation unanimously decided to assign, in addition to the prize winner, two
special mentions for two other artists whose names will be announced during the awards
ceremony. In the exhibition will be shown the latest works of of Guglielmo Castelli, Flavio
De Marco, Marco Di Giovanni, Rä Di Martino, Zoè Gruni, Jacopo Mazzonelli, Margherita
Moscardini, Caterina Nelli, Maria Elisabetta Novello, Giovanni Ozzola, Laurina
Paperina, Nicola Samorì, Marco Maria Giuseppe Scifo, Nicola Toffolini, Gianluca
Vassallo.
The idea of the Prize, awarded by a German Foundation for the young Italian artists, was
born from the desire to establish a dialogue that goes beyond the borders of the two countries
in an effort to establish a comparison between the different artistic positions from the two
nations. The selection procedures, the work done by the Chairman Klaus Wolbert and the
members of the Board of Directors (Volker W. Feierabend, Lóránd Hegyi, Silvia Höller,
Norbert Nobis, Peter Weiermair) demonstrate a seriousness of purposes that has been
consolidated over the years and was internationally appreciated, as evidenced by the
numerous and ongoing collaborations with the most important European institutions that have
recognized the work of the Foundation an unmissable opportunity for comparison.
The selections of artists are held for years in a transparent and democratic way with a first
presentation of possible candidates, about a hundred, which is followed by a visit to the
studios of the artists who have passed the first selection. In the course of a few months the
members of the Board of Directors and the Chairman make various trips throughout the
Italian territory to view directly the works and know the artists personally. At the end of these
preparatory phases, the collected information is reported and critically evaluated together.
With a democratic voting procedure they arrive at the final designation of the fifteen
participants and, at the same time, they define the contents of the exhibition.
The VAF Foundation was created by Volker W. Feierabend that, as a collector, has always
believed in the creative potential of Italian art. The idealistic program that has developed from
this predilection has resulted in a collection of modern and contemporary Italian art of the
highest level, which is now owned by the Foundation and whose modernist works are often
given to German and European museums. It dates back to 2001 the collaboration with the
MART, Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea of Rovereto, the museum that owns more
than a thousand works of this collection as a long-term storage. A collection that boasts
masterpieces of the twentieth century Italian, but that goes up to the most recent
contemporary works.
In the meantime, the bilateralism Italy-Germany has been exceeded and the Foundation has
established contacts with venues of other European nations. The purpose of engaging in a
targeted manner other European countries will be achieved through the cooperation with the
Musée d'Art Moderne in Saint Etienne in France and through the establishment of links with
other museums and exhibition centers in Europe.
On the occasion of the exhibition a catalogue has been published in German and Italian
bilingual edition, published by Allerheiligenpresse.
Vaf Stiftung - PR/Press: Simona Di Giovannantonio – [email protected] - www.vaffoundation.com
FONDAZIONE / STIFTUNG
Exibition:
PREMIO ARTISTICO FONDAZIONE VAF – VI edizione
Posizioni attuali dell’arte Italiana
Curated by:
Vaf Foundation: Chairman Klaus Wolbert – Board Volker W.
Feierabend, Lóránd Hegyi, Silvia Höller, Norbert Nobis, Peter
Weiermair
Organizer:
VAF Foundation – Frankfurt am Main
Venue:
Perugia, Palazzo della Penna. Centro per le arti
contemporanee
Period:
Novembre 29th 2014 – January 25th, 2015
Catalogue:
Allerheiligenpresse - Innsbruck
Artists:
Guglielmo Castelli, Flavio De Marco, Marco Di Giovanni, Rä
Di Martino, Zoè Gruni, Jacopo
Mazzonelli, Margherita
Moscardini, Caterina Nelli, Maria Elisabetta Novello, Giovanni
Ozzola, Laurina Paperina, Nicola Samorì, Marco Maria
Giuseppe Scifo, Nicola Toffolini, Gianluca Vassallo.
Vaf Stiftung - PR/Press: Simona Di Giovannantonio – [email protected] - www.vaffoundation.com