Accademia della Luce: Public Program of Luci d’Artista – 27th Edition (2024-2025)
Watch the conference on Scia’Mano, the Luce d’Artista by Luigi Ontani HERE
On January 16, 2025, a conference dedicated to Scia’Mano, the light installation created by Luigi Ontani for the 27th edition of Luci d’Artista, was held at GAM - Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Turin. The installation, located in Piazza Carlo Felice within the Giardini Sambuy, served as the starting point for an in-depth exploration of the work of one of Italy’s most important contemporary artists.
This event marked the first appointment of Accademia della Luce, the Public Program of Luci d’Artista, and featured a panel of distinguished critics and intellectuals who have supported the artist throughout his career. They accompanied him on his travels in Italy and the Far East, wrote for him, curated major exhibitions, and facilitated the inclusion of his work in institutional contexts.
Participants included Luigi Ontani; Giulia Giambrone, art historian and critic; Emanuele Trevi, writer and literary critic; Elena Volpato, curator at GAM Turin. The discussion was moderated by Antonio Grulli, curator of Luci d’Artista, and introduced by Chiara Bertola, Director of GAM.
Giulia Giambrone is a young art historian and researcher based in Venice. Her thesis on the work of Luigi Ontani led to their meeting. Emanuele Trevi is one of Italy's most prominent writers, winner of the 2021 Premio Strega, and a regular contributor to Corriere della Sera. He has written extensively on Ontani’s work and co-authored books with him, including Ontani a Bali (Humboldt Books, 2016). Elena Volpato has included Ontani's early seminal videos from the late 1960s in the GAM Video Library, which she founded, and curated the exhibition Alam Jiwa & Vanitas in 2021 at the Wunderkammer space.
