Lugano, 9th September 2019 – Lugano Exhibition Centre is getting ready to host the fourth edition of WopArt - Work on Paper Fair. Founded by Paolo Manazza, the international fair is primarily devoted to works on paper. It will be taking place over an exhibition area of 7000 m² with 102 exhibitors from 16 countries. The gallery space is divided into 4 sections, 7 collateral exhibitions and an extensive schedule of events and talks that will run from 19th to 22nd September 2019.

Since its first inauguration in Lugano in 2016, the fair has grown exponentially with more and more participation of national and international galleries over the past three years. This proves that the fair is focused on a globally popular segment of the market is inevitably destined to grow.

At the fourth edition, the fair will be held over 7000 m² for the first time - the entire exhibition area is spread all over the fair's pavilions - while a selection of exhibitors is chosen by the scientific committee chaired by Paolo Manazza, a painter and journalist specialising in art economics, and Mimmo Di Marzio, a journalist, critic, and contemporary art curator. It offers an extensive overview of works made exclusively on paper consisting of different techniques, languages and periods in history. This guarantees the exhibition in obtaining an across-the-board appeal.

Among all the new features, the technical-organisational partnership with BolognaFiere Spa group - Italy's first in terms of turnover achieved abroad with more than 80 events worldwide - and the crucial support of Alberto Rusconi, an internationally known art collector and businessman have decided to invest in the WopArt project.

Following the success of the first three editions, the fair is being innovated and extended this year to present four different sections.

The MAIN COURSE section, curated by Paolo Manazza and Mimmo Di Marzio, will display 43 galleries divided into three branches - MODERN, CONTEMPORARY and OLD MASTERS - with works that will range from the most famous masters of the past to the artists of today.

EMERGENT will extend the exhibition proposal by bringing young, emerging galleries with international projects and artists to the fair.

Luca Zuccala will curate DIALOGUES that proposes a reading of the heterogeneous and dynamic nature of the paper medium through the projects selected by the curators and the participating galleries.
Lastly, the PROJECT SPACE section will be curated by Marco Roberto Marelli with the support of Chiara Spiaggiari in which the International Laser Print Show project will be presented with the important project spaces all over the world chosen and co-ordinated by Dario Moalli in partnership with a team of international curators: Lucia Aspesi (Assistant Curator Pirelli HangarBicocca), Lorenzo Balbi (Artistic Director MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna), Giulia Colletti (Director Assistant Castello di Rivoli) and Fiammetta Griccioli (Assistant Curator Pirelli HangarBicocca).

Cutting-edge issues connected with project spaces will be studied through an extensive public program aimed at getting the general public involved through interacting with leading operators in associated industries. The works derived from the International Laser Print Show will be sold to a symbolic sum and the profit will go to charity for the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital for the project "Institute of Tumors and Transplants".

Another innovation of this year’s edition is that all exhibitors will be entitled to display three works not on paper at their own stand, although it is suggested they focus on paintings, objects or sculptures displayed along with a preparatory sketch on paper: another way of focusing on works on paper acknowledging how they epitomise the poetic, creative spirit of the language of artists.

This year, the fair is also enriched by a new area of 1000 square meters called the SQUARE OF CULTURE: an entire pavilion dedicated to the entertainment of the public through spaces used for exhibitions, meetings and cultural debates, workshops for children, restaurants and relaxation areas.

Seven collateral exhibitions will be organized within the exhibition centre:

AT THE ORIGINS OF PAPER; FIVE PAPYRUSES FROM THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM IN FLORENCE is an exhibition organised by Giorgio Piccaia and Maria Cristina Guidotti with the help of Corrado Basile, in conjunction with WopArt’s Cultural Board and the support of Lugano City Council. It will look at the subject of the history of paper and writing by displaying five papyruses on loan from the Egyptian Museum in Florence for the very first time in Lugano.

LUIGI PERICLE. THE ALCHEMIST PAINTER, curated by Mimmo di Marzio and Paolo Manazza, will be presenting a previously unshown collection of works on paper by the Swiss artist Luigi Pericle Giovannetti (Basel, 1916 – Ascona, 2001), who lived in artistic-meditative isolation for many years and was recently rediscovered by the critics following an important retrospective exhibition held at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice.

ANDREY ESIONOV’S VISIONARY REALISM, curated by Marco di Capua will bring to the fair an absolute preview of ten watercolours by the painter Andrey Esionov (Tashkent, 1963), master of contemporary Russian figurative art whose works will be exhibited in autumn at Musei di San Salvatore in Lauro.

The stand of Tallulah Studio Art will host two exhibitions:
COURTESY OF CLIFFORD CHANCE - ARCUS PRIDE ART EXHIBITION, MILAN, 2019, which will make it possible to visit the exhibition supporting the LGBT + community organized by the famous law firm and set up in Italy for the first time in Clifford Chance Milanese offices in June; and I AM, curated by Patrizia Madau, which will present the works of six young and talented artists brought to face the issues of technique, sign, light, color, material, full and empty.

The exclusive VIP LOUNGE, set up for the second year running in partnership with Maison Suisse d'Horlogerie Eberhard & Co. in conjunction with the prestigious Orologeria Mersmann, will be displaying five sculptures from Salvador Dali’s SOFT WATCHES collection thanks to Dalì Universe - a company that specialises in safeguarding and enhancing the artist’ work, and also manages one of the world’s biggest private collections of Dalì’s artworks.
Lastly, WopArt’s Talks Area will stage a striking exhibition of installations by the fashion photographer Bob Krieger, featuring a number of works selected from the artist’s most valuable private collection. The exhibition, curated by Mimmo di Marzio titled as LOVE, is an excursus into the psyche of one of the leading figures in the great success story of Italian fashion around the world during its golden days.

The first three days of the fair will feature CONVERSATIONS, a schedule of meetings with artists, gallery owners, collectors and professionals working in the industry, curated by Mimmo Di Marzio and Luca Zuccala. This edition's talks will focus on three main themes within the framework of the fair’s communication campaign: The Democracy of Paper, The Biodiversity of Paper and The Flavours of Paper.

The Talks Area will also be available to professionals involved in the realization of the fair, who will be able to agree with the curators on a time dedicated to them for programming specific conversations on the world of work on paper.
The debates will continue inside the Speeches Room, an exclusive space in which Serena Di Palma will present meetings with internationally renowned intellectuals and writers.

From Monday 16th to Sunday 22nd September, Lugano will host official openings, exhibitions, events and special openings in both public and private places. While creating an authentic Art Week centred around WopArt Fair, it underlines the status as a cultural benchmark for the city, and above all, for the national and international art world.

WopArt is organised by Wopart Executive Sagel under the patronage of Lugano City Council.
Sponsor: BNP Paribas, Colombo Experience, Eberhard & Co, Helvetia, Mersmann, Nagel, Swiss Diamond Hotel, Voilàp, Casinò Lugano, Ciaccio Arte Insurance, Kartell Lugano, Ail, Hammer Partners, Lugano Airport, Lugano Region, La Montina e Stierlin

Main media partners: La Lettura – Corriere della Sera, RSI Swiss Radio Television, The New York Times
Media partner: Apollo, Arte, Artnet, Artslife, Corriere del Ticino, Exibart, Flash Art, Frieze, Il Giornale dell’Arte, Lampoon, Ticino Welcome

Honorary Committee: Annamaria Bernardini de Pace, Marco Borradori, Gerardo Braggiotti, Gabriele Braglia, Nicola Carraro, Francesco Casoli, Laura Colnaghi, Stefano Cordero di Montezemolo (Presidente), Elio Cosimo Catania, Ferruccio De Bortoli, Paola Del Vecchio, Giorgio Fossa, Giovanni Gavazzeni Ricordi, maestro Andrea Griminelli, Liliana Guidetti, Dora Invernizzi, Bob Krieger, Gianni Letta – Associazione Civita, Sergio Mantegazza, Giovanna Masoni Brenni, Sandro Manuli, Ernesto Mauri, Micaela Goren Monti, Helen Nonini, Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, Carlo Pesenti, Livia Pomodoro, Giancarlo Ragnetti, Alberto Rusconi, Mariela Schwarz Montiel, Ezio Simonelli, Lucio, Stanca, Salvatore Trifirò, Maria Luisa Trussardi, Gianfranco Zoppas e Vitti Ferria Contin


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