Juventus and Artissima have announced that they are teaming up to launch Artissima Junior, a new project for children visiting the Artissima fair.
The event is organised by ZonArte, the network bringing together the education departments of the leading contemporary art institutions in Piedmont, with support from the CRT Foundation for Modern and Contemporary Art in Turin.
Led by the Argentine artist Alek O., children between the ages of six and 11 will help to create a large piece of artwork using Juventus match posters. The result will be Il Giardino [The Garden], a piece of interactive architecture which will be constantly changing and developing. The hope is that the work will help the children to understand the extent to which contemporary art can transform their day-to-day lives and indeed the world we all live in.
In addition to helping the children to create Il Giardino, Alek O. – an extraordinarily talented artist who uses techniques such as montage and deconstruction to give materials a new symbolic value – will also be unveiling Luisito Monti (2018), an original new work created especially for Artissima Junior.
Using a similar strategy to his previous works made from scraps of old clothing, Alek O. used embroidery to meticulously stitch together and reassemble a selection of Bianconeri scarfs. After being broken down into threads of different colours, the scarfs were then put together again on canvas to create a modern, geometric tapestry.
The title, Luisito Monti, is a homage to the Argentine footballer who played for Juventus between 1931 and 1939. The work pays tribute to Monti’s determination – the midfielder used to wear heavy woollen jerseys during summer training sessions in order to get into peak physical condition.
Artissima Junior will be running at Artissima, at the Oval, Lingotto Fiere Torino, on Friday 2, Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 November from 14:00 to 18:00 CET.