Artissima opens its future-focused 30th edition in Turin.
Installation view of Artissima, 2023. © Perottino-Piva-Peirone and Artissima 2023. Courtesy of Artissima.
Artissima, the Italian art fair for contemporary art, opened its 30th edition on November 2nd to busy crowds. The fair, which takes place at OVAL Lingotto in Turin, pioneered the introduction of curators into the fair programming process. The theme of this year’s fair is “Relations of Care,” a concept introduced by researcher Renzo Taddei, which centers on responsibility towards the environment as a way of understanding the world.
“The 30th iteration of Artissima in Torino reflects the fair’s ability to develop a vision based on three decades of activity to continue to look into the future, relying on the power of the fair’s Italian and international network,” said Luigi Fassi, the fair’s director.
This focus on the future was evident, particularly in the curated sectors in the fair: Present Future highlighted emerging artists, and Back To The Future selected female pioneers of contemporary art from 1950–79. The latter included many gems, including standout drawings and sculptures (one of which was priced at €200,000—or $212,539) by Mona Saudi at Lawrie Shabibi’s booth, and glazed ceramics works by Franca Maranò at Richard Saltoun’s booth.
Bekhbaatar Enkhtur, installation view in Matèria’s booth at Artissima, 2023. Courtesy of Matèria.
More than 180 galleries participated in the fair, including 39 first-time attendees. These included The Sunday Painter, showing a booth of small, photorealistic paintings on textured burlap by Jennifer J. Lee. The gallery had planned to attend in 2020 and was only now able to make it in a post-Covid era.
Also attending for the first time was Milan gallery L.U.P.O., whose founder Massimiliano Lorenzelli said that its booth of vibrant, tattoo-inspired paintings by Giuditta Branconi had sold out within a few hours (to Polish and Swiss collectors). “Bologna, Milan: they’re older and more traditional. Torino is much more exciting. This is the place to be in Italy,” he said.
Fair veteran Matèria was showing a new series of drawings by Bekhbaatar Enkhtur scratched into aluminum food containers, alongside a wax flower sculpture by the Mongolian artist in the Present Future section. “We are extremely happy with the reception to our booth,” said gallery director Niccolò Fano, noting the institutional interest in his work at the fair. Like many, he praised the high quality of work throughout Artissima: “It is truly the pinnacle of Italian contemporary art.”
Giuditta Branconi, Se nella notte estiva sai trovare la via, 2023. Photo by Pietro Cisani. Courtesy of Artissima.
By the end of the first day, sales were gaining momentum. Galeria Francisco Fino, for example, had sold the haunting monochrome photograph Experiência do lugar II (2004) by Helena Almeida to a private European collection for €100,000 ($106,270). Czech dealer Hunt Kastner had sold an installation of 28 collages by Eva Kotatkova (who is representing the Czech Republic at the Venice Biennale in 2024) to a private collection in Monaco for an undisclosed sum. Turin gallery Mazzoleni also sold a light sculpture (in the range of €45,000–55,000—around $47,833–58,463) by Marinella Senatore from its bright, Pop art–filled booth.
Correction: An earlier version of this article referred to Artissima as Italy’s oldest fair—in fact, Arte Fiera is the oldest.
