Frome March 11th to April 2nd, 2017 in the Spazio Ratti in Como will take place the Italian stop of the Biennale d’Arte Contemporanea Giovane Creazione Europea – JCE Jeune Création Européenne (Young European Creation of Contemporary Arts), after the expositions in France, Danemark, Latvia, Poland, Spain, and Portugal.

The exhibition will bring together 56 artists from 7 European countries, which express themselves with different types of art: painting, sculpture, installation art, photography, and video art.

The event is edited by Veronica Vittani and Francesca Testoni and is promoted by the Lombardy Region, by the GAI (Association for Young Italian Artists) and is supported by the technical contribution from Menphis spa.

The 8 Italian artists taking part in the exhibition are: Giulia Berra, Tania Brassesco & Lazlo Passi Norberto, Juri Ceccotti, Giulia Fumagalli, Matteo Galvano, Giovanni Longo, Federico Scarchilli. They have been selected from the Cultural Councilor of Como through the “Co.Co.Co. 2015” ( Como Contemporary Contest 2015), with the contribution of a jury formed by Flaminio Gualdoni, art historian and editor; Elena Isella, art historian and editor; Claudio Grillone, director of Milan’s Department of Creativity and of Fabbrica del Vapore; Salvatore Marsiglione, art dealer; Veronica Vittani, Director of Como’s Culture Department.

The 48 artists from the other 6 countries are: Valérie Collart, Ditte Knus Tønnesen, Amalie Jakobsen, Astrid Myntekær, Christine Overvad Hansen, Nanna Riis Andersen, Johanne Skovbo Lasgaard, Dan Stockholm (Denmark); Marion Bataillard, Willem Boel, Virginie Gouband, Arthur Lambert, François Malingrey, Louise Pressager, Tatiana Wolska, Qingmei Yao (France); Lauris Aizupietis, Margrieta Dreiblate, Atis Izands, Klavs Loris, Oskars Pavlovskis, Paula Pelše, Linda Vigdorcika, Lauris Vitolinš (Latvia), Miłosz Flis, Michał Frydrych, Marcelina Gron, Kornel Janczy, Berenika Kowalska, Izabela Łeska, Tomasz Poznysz, Magdalena Sawicka (Poland), Basttuz, Inês Henriques, Mariana Mendes Delgado, Pedro Mesquita, Mónica Nogueira, Filipa Silveira, Marlene Teixeira, Fátima Teles (Portugal); Aïda Andrés Rodrigálvarez, Adrian Espinós Ferrero, Anna Ill Albà, Jennifer Owens, Esther Pí Gómez, Mònica Planes Castan, Ignasi Prat Altimira, Ines Schaikowski (Spain).

Young European Creation presents works of great artistic value and of major visual impact. Some examples: the sculpture of the French Artist Tatiana Wolska, made in heat-sealed plastic, light and floating like a cloud; and the great picture of the Latvian artist Klāvs Loris, an immersion in the deep painting of the artist, where feelings and emotional states are trapped among colours.

Some original installations stand out, such as Miłosz Flis’s (Poland) capsules which contain recreations of some of his personal items along with worlds of fantasy. Instead, Juri Ceccotti’s CV is inspired by some features of the real world and reflects ironically the conditions of modern human being, focusing on precarious employment. A similar theme has been analysed also by Giovanni Longo (Italy), who represents human weakness, using skeletons of small animals eroded from the passage of time. Margrieta Dreiblate (Latvia) opted for a peculiar apposition: a record player topped by krapfens which is for “people who believe art is still a serious business”. Nanna Riis Andersen (Danemark) exposes an installation composed by elements which explore the limitations and the possibilities of the human body, asking how long can nature be altered for. Anna Ill Albà’s (Spain) installation is a deep and refined deconstruction of such an intimate and private place just like bedrooms are.

Christine Overvad Hansen (Danemark) and Lauris Vitolins (Latvia) build kinetic sculptures with different purposes. Hansen’s purpose is to turn a performance act into sculpture, while Vitolins’s created a fountain from which a black liquid continuously flows. Willem Boel (France) creates, with recovered materials, amazing machinery called New Windmills, a perpetual work based on randomness and repetition. The Spanish artist Mònica Planes Castan makes a process of fusion between public and private places with his artpiece called Poltrona. Spazio Interno non condiviso (Armchair. Interior not Shared Space) composed by fences and a rope on which it is impossible to seat down. The Italian Matteo Galvano puts together in his work two different, very emblematic, architectural structures of two distant cities like Malmö and Pisa, by representing respectively the Tuning Torso and the Pending Tower to symbolise the possibility to reclaim the ideal city.

The iconic and ironic painting of Tomasz Poznysz (Poland) is a clever and amusing reference to the famous “Ragazza con l’orecchino di perla” by Johannes Vermeer, here turned into a dog.

Aïda Andrés Rodrigálvarez’s (Spain) and Giulia Fumagalli’s (Italy) works are based on the chromatic research: the former induce people to look beyond the piece of art to realise that our perception is not rational nor objective; the latter was inspired by the observation and study of optical phenomenon such as the aura, which substitute the visual field with colour beams.

The exhibition is also characterised by the presence of introspective works, such as the meticulous paintings realised with the hair of the Spanish artist Jennifer Owens, which have an enormous symbolic value because they will remain after death; or the Flotte di sogni (Dreams Fleet) by the Italian Giulia Berra, small and fragile crafts made by a wire and feathers, remembrance of the migrations of the Mediterranean.

The show involves also several artists which work with photography such as Marlene Teixeira (Portugal) with a psychological approach; Tania Brassesco & Lazlo Passi Norberto (Italy), connected to the area of psyche, of dreams, and of subconscious; Federico Scarchilli (Italy) investigates the position of the human being in society, paying attention to the silence and stillness opposed to the hustle of the contemporary life; or by Lauris Aizupietis (Latvia) from the documental orienting , with scenes of everyday life.

Among the different artistic expressions is video art, like the work of Qingmei Yao (France) which interprets the gesture of rubbing two fingers to indicate money.

The exposition at the Spazio Ratti is accompanied by the Biennale Catalogue, edited by the city of Montrouge, leader of the project, containing the works by all the artists present at the exhibition and the curatorial texts in English and in all the languages of the partner countries.

The exposition is together by the didactic section named “L’arte viene… da te” (Art comes... from you) with a long programming of workshops and meetings, had by the artists themselves, which will involve students of all ages, including those from the Primary schools of Rebbio and Civiglio, of the Secondary school Paolo Carcano Setificio, of the Academy of fine Arts Aldo Galli – IED Como, and of the University of the Third Age Alessandro Volta.

History of the Biennale

JCE Jeune Création Européenne was designed in 2000 in the French city of Montrouge, in order to create an opportunity of sharing and comparing artistic sceneries of the European Union. The Exhibition main goals are to sustain the connection between cities that promote the work of young emerging artists, to contribute to the discovery of young talents and to protect the free circulation of ideas.

The inspiring principle of the JCE is to provide an opportunity for emerging artists to be known through the exposition of their works in a biennale collective exhibition touring the partner European countries, with the support of artistic residencies, a catalogue and a website designed as an evolving virtual gallery.

The city of Como has been long engaged in the promotion and value enhancement of young contemporary artists and in 2013 the city joined the JCE Biennale and take part to the ongoing edition (2015-2017) along with the European cities of: Montrouge (France), Hjørring (Danemark), Wrocław (Poland), Cēsis (Latvia), Figueres (Spain), Amarante (Portugal).

At the opening, Saturday March 11th at 17, will take part Etienne Lengereau and Gabrielle Fleury, respectively Mayor and Cultural Councilour of Montrouge; Andrea Ponsini, director and general coordinator of the Biennale, and several artists involved in the exhibition.