EXTENDED THROUGH FEBRUARY 27, 2022
Giancarlo and Giovanni Cerri’s exhibition is an ideal opportunity for a comparison between this father and son, two quite different Milanese artists in their themes and expressive language. Giancarlo started out as a figurative artist focusing mostly on the theme of nature. His painting progressively evolved – in the nineties – into the abstract. Giovanni is instead attracted to a narrative form, focusing on the urban landscape, and the interpretation of industrial archaeology.
The two artists have already had the occasion to exhibit together at the Museo della Permanente in Milan (2008), at the Frankfurter Westend Galerie in Frankfurt-am-Main (2013), at the Italian Cultural Institute in Stuttgart (2014) and at the Centro Culturale in Milan (2018). This exhibition at the Museo Italo Americano represents the fifth opportunity for a comparison between the two artists.
In his exhibition Giancarlo presents his abstract period of “Sequences”, which he began during the mid-nineties, represented by a selection of works from the 10-year period of 1995-2005. This cycle of works highlights the composition reached using only two or three colors (mostly primary) juxtaposed with black. These images characterize more than two decades of the artist’s work.
For his exhibition 2020: Milan in the Hour of the Wolf Giovanni presents a body of work inspired by the capital of Lombardy during the Coronavirus pandemic. Preceded by numerous studies and a selection of drawings for the exhibition in October 2020 at “Casa di Lucio Fontana” in Comabbio, Varese, this new cycle of paintings is introduced by a title that evokes the Ingmar Bergman film, Hour of the Wolf (1968)
GIANCARLO CERRI
The Abstract Sequences. 1995-2005
GIOVANNI CERRI
2020: Milan in the Hour of the Wolf
WITH THE PATRONAGE OF Istituto Italiano di Cultura San Francisco and Museo della Permanente di Milano
SPECIAL THANKS: LTA Studio • Valla & Associates, Inc., P.C.
PARTNERS: Confcommercio • Promo.Ter Unione • Officine Mara • Falsitta & Associati • Spartaco Smersu • Arcos • Fondazione Peano • Associazione Heart Pulsazioni Culturali • Centro Culturale di Milano • Frankfurter Westend Galerie • Associazione Borgo di Lucio Fontana
On January 24, 2022, Italian Director and Producer @albertonacci presented his latest work, the “docufilm” Volti della Memoria (Faces of Memory) at @lapermanente, in Milan. For his project, he interviewed 11 artists over 80, whose artwork is included in the permanent collection of the museum. One of these artists is Giancarlo Cerri, featured in our exhibition The Art of Two Generations (10/28/21-02/27/22).
Watch the trailer HERE
Alberto also shared with us his meeting with Giancarlo Cerri at the Museo della Permanente:
“I met Giancarlo Cerri on November 27, 2021, at the Museo della Permanente, in Milan. I was setting up for the filming of my docufilm Volti della Memoria, that features 11 artists over 80 whose artwork is included in the permanent collection of the museum. Giancarlo was one of them.
He arrived on time, wearing a sport cap, with his hair touching his shoulders. His eyes were saying “I don’t know what is going to happen, but it will be fine”!
As soon as he got there, he told me about his exhibition at the Museo Italo Americano in San Francisco, and he handed me the catalog of the show, featuring one of his beautiful paintings.
Talking with Giancarlo was easy. We only met a few minutes before, in a situation that would make feel many people uncomfortable (black backdrop, 3 filming cameras, a “jungle” of wires, LED lights…), but he felt at ease, as if he were already accustomed to being in the spotlight!
I asked him a wide range of questions, to gather information and anecdotes on the evolution of the art world in Italy over the last last 60 years.
His ability and clarity to recount events that happened 40, 50, 60 years ago was stunning – he was even able to give me an impression of Carlo Carrà!
He spoke of his long artistic path for almost two hours, and he told me about his early career as an advertising graphic designer, his recent works, as well as his artistic career, to which he refers as “four seasons”, where he experimented with different techniques.
My conversation with Giacarlo Cerri has been fascinating. We were all enthralled by his great energy. At the end of his interview, we said goodbye to each other as old friends do. When I met him at the film presentation, at the Museo della Permanente (January 24th, 2022), he told me more about his exhibition in San Francisco. He was as excited as a child. Amazing!”
Alberto Nacci was born in 1957 in Trapani (Italy). He lives and works in Bergamo since 1982. Former professor of Sound Design at Academies of Fine Arts in Bergamo and Brescia, after a long career as a jazz musician, with numerous musical productions and a rich concert activity, he dedicated himself to the production of art and culture documentaries, industrial films. His video art works received numerous international awards. His works are appreciated in Italy and abroad and have been selected for some of the most important festivals of film and video art in Europe, USA, Asia. He participated, representing Italy, in EURONIGHT08, a video-art retrospective organized by the Italian Cultural Institute of Toronto.
