09 December 2019

Banca Generali unveils the second edition of BG Art Talent

Banca Generali Private opens the doors of its Milan office in Piazza Sant’Alessandro 4 to present two new works that become part of its permanent collection. Starting from December 12th, the courtyard of the historic Palazzo Pusterla in the center of Milan will host the work of two of the most interesting Italian artists of the moment, selected by Vincenzo De Bellis (Associate Director of the Walker Art Museum of Minneapolis, USA) in the ambit of the BGArTalent project: Enrico David and Francesco Arena.

"BG Art Talent is the project developed with Banca Generali that aims to support young Italian art through the acquisition of works. For this second edition, we have focused on two artists who have in their DNA the continuous rethinking of the limits of traditional means such as painting and sculpture - comments Vincenzo De Bellis, who adds - Enrico David and Francesco Arena represent two examples of Italian artists that maintain a strong link with the tradition of our country but are in open dialogue with the whole world and are therefore permanently present in the international art scene”.

The elegant balance and the personal dimension of Enrico David's production will be represented by "Untitled", a 2018 painting in which the artist reflects on the human form through an image that seems to appear from nowhere to subsequently return to nothing. The result is an enigmatic representation where the detail of the human face is transfigured until it becomes almost a cloud that leads the observer to reflect on the transience of our own earthly existence.

The other exposed work is also strongly iconic, the "Shiny Square with the First Statement by Wittgenstein, Pair of Fruits and Occasional People" by Francesco Arena. This square installation of two by two meters looks like a mirror-polished yellow bronze plate with the first of the seven statements at the center of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein engraved on its diagonal: “The world is everything that is the case ". The mirroring of the work reflects the image of the observer and wants to make him think about the collage of relationships linked by different times: the eternal one of bronze and of engraved writing, the still one but the expiry of the plate with pears and the transitory one of his same reflected image.

"We are happy to expand our artistic collection with the works of two of the most appreciated Italian artists on the contemporary scene such as Francesco Arena and Enrico David. Their production amazes not only for their beauty and elegance, but also for the strength with which it leads us to reflect on the very meaning of our existence, offering us topical ideas - declares Gian Maria Mossa, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of the Banca Generali, who adds - we want to continue to promote artistic talent and expressiveness, with a particular focus on that Italian school of which Vincenzo De Bellis is one of the leading international promoters".

With this exhibition, Banca Generali continues its collaboration with Vincenzo De Bellis who, in the course of 2018, led to the creation of the exhibition "Hana To Yama" by Linda Fregni Nagler. The new exhibition is part of BG Art Talent, the project that aims to enhance Italian creativity in its various artistic expressions, with particular attention to the most innovative proposals among contemporary artists.

Milan, Banca Generali Private Headquarters (Piazza S. Alessandro 4)
12 December 2019 - 30 June 2020
The works can be visited for free every weekday, from 10:00 to 18:00.