The bond with the motherland, emigration as a journey, landing in the New World and integration into the culture of the adopted country. But also the fears and concerns of the contemporary era. Italian and Italian-American artists tell their story through their works and confirm that the state of the art overseas is in constant turmoil. There are two ongoing exhibitions: A Legacy of Making: 21 Contemporary Italian American Artistsat the Calandra Institute in New York, and the inaugural edition of Tristate Italian Art Prize, a new initiative of the Consulate General of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute which aims to promote and recognize the creativity of the Italian and Italian-American community in the Tristate area (New York, Connecticut, New Jersey).
A Legacy of Making: 21 Contemporary Italian American Artists comes from the book Italianità: Contemporary Art-Inspired by the Italian Immigrant Experienceby the Italian-American artist Joanne Matterawhich together with Joseph Sciorra he curated the exhibition open to the public until next April. In total, twenty-one artists have been selected whose works address themes such as travel, genealogical history, the relationship with Italian-American language and culture.
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Tristate Prize – Isaak Liptzin Awen Films
“I wrote the book Italianity, which inspired the exhibition, driven by curiosity – says Joanne Mattera. My life has been enriched, both personally and creatively, by two cultures and two languages, Italian and American. I wondered if it was the same for other Italian American artists. It was, especially for the second generation, for us who are American enough to embrace our Italianness while our parents, born to Italian immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s, struggled with their identity in a country not particularly welcoming to the Italians” – concludes Mattera.
Angelica Bergamini, in New York since 2006, a naturalized American, she is among the Italian artists selected for the exhibition at Calandra with her work Fra mare e cielo. “I thought about how water connects my two lands: Italy, the place of my origins, and New York City, where I chose to live.” The boat symbolizes a passage: our birth, the journey through life and finally our last crossing” – comments Angelica Bergamini.
