illy SustainArt Observatory
illy SustainArt Observatory
The illy SustainArt Observatory (www.illysustainart.org) is part of illy SustainArt’s wider commitment to the promotion of contemporary art on a worldwide scale, and as such a practical realisation of illy’s corporate philosophy with its concern for excellence, ethics and sustainability in general. The illy SustainArt Observatory is as much an online international contemporary art-watch as well as window-display site, where art practitioners, professionals and lovers can come together, get to know one another and mutually exchange views, ideas and projects, with a special focus on the art of young talents from emerging countries.
In the words of illycaffè’s art director, Carlo Bach, “illycaffè’s core values, and namely ethics and aesthetics, merge and come to fruition perfectly in this new project. The illy sustainArt Observatory intends offering art practitioners from emerging countries an effective tool with which to gain fuller and more universal visibility and thus enter the international market on an equal footing. We’re confident that the web, and in particular social networking, can make for effective sharing of experiences and connections, breaking down distances and geographical barriers”.
Thanks to this platform artists will be given the opportunity of making their works more widely and easily accessible to the critics and curators of the network. Indeed, they will have the opportunity of organising online exhibitions of their works for maximum visibility. In addition to being seen by network members, their works will also be “visited” and appraised by a six-judge panel with a view to highlighting those deemed worthy of “special concern” and selecting some for other high-profile events. More precisely, the panel will select 10 exhibitions and 10 artists every two months for insertion in the public, high-visibility section of the site, which is of course freely accessible to all interested browsers. The panel will also select an exhibition from those created online for off-line production to coincide with important contemporary art events. Panel members will include:
Meskerem Assegued - art critic and curator;
Carlo Bach - illycaffè art director;
Suman Gopinath - art critic and freelance curator;
Mariangela Mendez Prencke - art critic and curator;
Michelangelo Pistoletto - one of the leading art celebrities on the contemporary international arts scene;
Angela Vettese - art critic, lecturer at IUAV, and president of the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation.
