Corriere Art Collection, author’s (digital) experiments – Corriere.it

The debut of the «Corriere della Sera» in the universe of digital art, first newspaper in Italy, took place on 23 September 2021 with the reworking of the historic front page of 21 July 1969, that of the Apollo 11 moon landing, transformed into NFT (acronym for non-fungible tokens) by Andrea Bonaceto, pioneer of cryptoart. Then, between March and April 2022, eleven artists created as many works inspired by the book by Zlatan Ibrahimovic Adrenaline. My Untold Stories, published by Cairo Editore. High-tech works sold — such as the Bonaceto cover — on digital art online auction platforms.

Now the «Corriere» has its own digital store, which debuts on December 15: the Corriere Art Collection website (artcollection.corriere.it
), where the Nft — certificates of authenticity of digital works, than through technology blockchainattest to its uniqueness — which will give access to various exclusive products: purely digital works or digital pieces accompanied by physical works or services.

There are three projects that accompany the birth of the site. The first concerns the collection of author’s covers of «la Lettura». A long-term project, which will involve several authors. Leading the way is an artist who accompanies “Reading” from its first steps: the erasing master Emilio Isgrò. For the birth of the cultural supplement of the Corriere, in 2011, Isgrò created a work entitled Wise Butterflieswhich became the cover number 8 of 8 January 2012. An evocative image where colored butterflies come to life from the pages of a book, accompanied by the words «Read in black and white, think in colour».

The Nft on the cover, in 99 copies, will be on sale at the price of 780 dollars (the currency used in the world of crypto art). By the will of the artist, whoever purchases the Nft will also receive a material version of the work: a Fine Art print on high quality cardboard and certified for collecting. With the original signature of Emilio Isgrò, who confesses to the «Corriere»: «I have no prejudices. Digital and paper already coexist for the diffusion of newspapers and books, I don’t see why they can’t coexist for art. We are experiencing an experimentation phase, let’s see how it will end, but starting with prejudices is counterproductive for the culture itself. In a country like ours, it is right to try all means to try and experiment with new forms of knowledge of art. I repeat, digital is welcome if it does not compromise the possibility of producing good art, especially towards the world of young people».

After Emilio Isgrò it will be the turn of others among the authors of the covers of «la Lettura». Moving in the context of the NFTs, the «Corriere della Sera» wants just this: involve traditional and recognized artists and carry out digital experiments with them.

The second group of works offered for sale from 15 December on the Corriere Art Collection website is created by Marcellus Lo Giudice. The artist born in Sicily, but active on the international scene, has created two NFTs based on two of his paintings, Eden Blue And Eden Purple, exhibited at the Venice Biennale and at Palazzo Reale in Milan, which represent the oceanic ridge that ascends towards space. In the digital version, Lo Giudice has animated the two works, emphasizing this upward movement. «The Nft is an interesting idea because for the first time one of my works of art is being computerized. Technology at the service of painting and imagination», underlines Lo Giudice: «You have to try new things». From 9 am on 15 to 8 pm on 22 December, the two works, accompanied by their corresponding Nft, will be auctioned on the «Corriere» marketplace at the starting price of 55,000 dollars each.

Beyond Eden Blue it’s at Eden Purplea series of six digital-only works titled Pollutionpaintings in which Lo Giudice shows the same image covered, in succession, by different levels of pollution. The six works, each in a single copy, will be on sale at the fixed price of $2,599 each.

The project will be told by Lo Giudice in a meeting, organized in collaboration with «ArtsLife», in Sala Buzzati at «Corriere», in Milan, Monday 19 December at 6pm (to participate just sign up by sending an email to [email protected]). The artist, who has always been sensitive to the theme of the environment, supports Prince Albert of Monaco and his foundation in safeguarding the planet, and will donate part of the proceeds from sales to projects in support of biodiversity and marine protected areas in the Mediterranean.

The third “drop” (the sale in NTF jargon) is in collaboration with the Meet – Digital Culture Center of Milan. The Meet will create collectible digital posters (“artist posters”) of its exhibitions. We start with that of Andrea Bonaceto in progress until February 5 in the spaces of via Vittorio Veneto 2, in the heart of Porta Venezia. In this case, those who purchase the Nft, for $16, in addition to the digital poster, will be able to access the exhibition and participate in a meeting with the artist (the Meet the Media Guru talk scheduled for January 26). At the Meet, Andrea Bonaceto exhibits his reinterpretation of the historic front page of the «Corriere». And the opera AB Infinite 1Nft auctioned by Christie’s last October 13 for 120 thousand pounds.