‘Artissima’ is one of the leading contemporary art fairs – and this year it’s almost the twenty-second edition. With a great number of initiatives, Turin is very international, when it comes to visual arts. Sabrina Möller talked to Raffaella Cortese about her story, the art market and their participation …
You’re one of the international best known galleries from Italy. How and when did you come up with the idea of founding a gallery? Could you tell me more about the beginnings?
I started working in the arts about twenty years ago working for other galleries. I spend five years at a gallery specialized in futurism and avant-garde. After that I worked for a contemporary art gallery until I decided to open my own one. Of course, it was not that easy. I started with a small space and after seven years we developed our space constantly. Having several premises is great for the artists, for example the young artist Francesco Arena – he decided to use all the three places and to make a kind of a trilogy. It is a great experience to work in different spaces with different projects and to create a connection between different works.
Are these three places very different from another?
The first one I opened is very different. It is bigger with high ceilings and it is not open to the street. There are no windows and you cannot see anything from the outside. But I also wanted to have a place with windows to the street because I realized that people walking by like to look inside. This can also be seen as a sort of education.
Your gallery is based in Milano. Could you tell me more about the current art scene in Milano?
At the moment there are quite positive developments in the arts in Milano because of the new foundation. This is very important because we don’t have a contemporary museum. But luckily we have this foundation that makes impressive exhibitions in a challenging space. The foundation has international appeal which is especially important for our artists. I believe that the foundation, the activities of the galleries and the exhibitions are very important for the creative atmosphere in Milano.
