MAXXI Bvlgari Prize, the project to support young artists that unites the MAXXI National Museum of XXI Century Arts and Bvlgari, has announced the names of the three finalists of the second edition of the initiative. The names were unveiled at the Bvlgari Hotel in London by Giovanna Melandri, president of the MAXXI Foundation and Nicola Bulgari, vice president of the Bvlgari Group. They are Giulia Cenci (Cortona, 1988, lives and works between Amsterdam and Tuscany), Tomaso De Luca (Verona, 1988, lives and works in Berlin) and Renato Leotta (Turin, 1982, lives and works in Acireale).
The members of the international jury Hou Hanru, Artistic Director of MAXXI, Bartolomeo Pietromarchi Director of MAXXI Arte, Manuel Borja-Villel, Director of the Reina Sofía Museum, Madrid and Emma Lavigne, President of the Palais de Tokyo, together with Lucia Boscaini, Bvlgari Brand and Hertitage Curator, illustrated the Award in a conversation with journalist Suzanne Trocme. Born in 2000 as a prize for young art, the prize is the starting point and the birth of the MAXXI Arte Collection. Over the years, it has been an important stepping stone for many artists. The meeting between MAXXI and Bvlgari had already taken place in 2014, on the occasion of the Bellissima exhibition. The Italy of high fashion 1945-1968, of which the maison was the main partner. With the MAXXI BVLGARI PRIZE this partnership "is renewed and consolidated", reads the note from the museum.
The site-specific works created for the AWARD will be exhibited at MAXXI from 7 May 2020. In October 2020, the jury will decide the winner, whose work will be acquired by the museum.
"In 2020 the museum turns 10 - says Giovanna Melandri - and the MAXXI BVLGARI PRIZE will be one of the events to celebrate this important anniversary, to underline how the commitment to support young talents is one of the main missions of the National Museum of Contemporary Art . The intense and evocative works of the 3 finalists Giulia Cenci, Tomaso De Luca and Renato Leotta reflect on today's society and explore the future. It will be a pleasure to have them at MAXXI, and it is a privilege to have Bvlgari alongside, a company that has given so much to Italian and international creativity, further proof of the importance of the non-ephemeral strategic alliance between the public and private sectors for culture”.
Says Jean Christophe Babin, CEO of Bvlgari: “Once again, the MAXXI BVLGARI PRIZE is confirmed as an exceptional platform for the most promising talents on the contemporary art scene. The multiplicity of languages adopted by the artists stimulates reflection on today's complex social and cultural situation, triggering a different perception of reality and the values that inspire it. The constant tension towards experimentation and the desire to promote young artists are the common ground of action of BVLGARI and MAXXI: I am sure that this new edition of the award will mark an important moment in international artistic research”.
