Do not call it a virtual fair, nor a viewing room: Fondamenta is an ongoing project by Artissima, the Turin art fair specialized in contemporary art that will return in November 2020 with its 27th edition. It is in a digital version and represents a great collective work characterized by the quality of the artworks presented – 194, a small number – and by the in-depth curatorial research. Each gallery presents a single work, divided in four sections: Present Future, curated by Ilaria Gianni and Fernanda Brenner; Back to the Future, curated by Lorenzo Giusti and Mouna Mekouar; Disegni, curated by Letizia Ragaglia and Bettina Steinbrügge; New Entries, edited by Valerio Del Baglivo; and Main Section, on this occasion edited by Ilaria Bonacossa. The goals are many: to give prominence to the galleries, considered as the true “foundations” around which all the interlocutors of the fair system rotate; to maintain the curatorial line, also in the digital version; offer a channel with good interface and simple to explore; also call a target of new collectors, since the works can not exceed the cost of 15 thousand euros.
The new display, inaugurated at the beginning of June, will remain active until July 5. And how did the public react? To answer this question is directly Ilaria Bonacossa, director of the fair. “Fondamenta is going very well, collectors are excited about the artworks’ quality and the easyness of using the platform. I believe that presenting only 194 works, the distillate of a curatorial research, was the right choice, in line with the identity of the fair. The galleries marked their first sales, but above all they received emails of interest and request for information from people with whom they were previously unrelated. This was the goal: to grow a network of fans and collectors and to put them in contact with our galleries, which have the merit to carry out a really important job of research and selection of talents”.