The gallery will host a presentation of the book "Monteverdi. Un paese in Toscana" by Bernard Touillon and Cécile Vaiarelli, published by Edizioni Idea Books. The event will be introduced by Ilaria Miani, Toto Bergamo Rossi and Ilaria Borletti Buitoni.

To coincide with the annual Contemporary Art Day in Italy (Giornata del Contemporaneo), the GNAM in Rome will present a site specific installation by Pietro Ruffo. Situated in the Futurism and War Room, the work is a life-size version of a famous World War I fighter plane, the SPAD SVII. Ruffo's sculpture, SPAD SVII, is his interpretation of the highly successful, notoriously difficult to pilot, single-seat biplane fighter aircraft, produced by the French Societe Pour l'Aviation et ses Derives, and famous in WWI for its speed, climb rate, and superior performance. It is a wood sculpture covered in watercolour and china ink drawings that depict stylized natural landscapes, and it directly confronts and complements the other historical works present in the Futurism and War Room.

“Breve storia del resto del mondo” curated by Laura Barreca at Fondazione Puglisi Cosentino in Catania, Sicily, is the most comprehensive solo exhibition of Ruffo's work so far. It will include large-scale installations, paintings and works on paper from 2005 to present, with a focus on work dedicated to decisive moments in world history: from the development of freedom theories in the 18th century, to the long-term consequences of Colonialism, to the raise of the Arab Spring.

In September 2014, Prem Sahib participates at the 10th Gwangju Biennale, Korea. The title given to the Biennale by curator Jessica Morgan is ‘Burning Down the House’, and seeks to explore the process of burning, transformation and rebirth, a cycle of obliteration and renewal which has been witnessed throughout history. Sahib offers viewers a collection of his sculptures and paintings addressing in characteristic fashion the themes of formalism, sexual identity and queer culture. 

For his first institutional solo exhibition in London, Prem Sahib presented a group of works in the Lower and Upper Galleries at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in late 2015. Each of the works, in sculpture, paint and performance, was permeated by a palpable sense of the body and human touch. The works, as is often the case with Sahib, were minimal and sparse in colour and, rather than offer a figurative representation of the body, invariably sought to replace or stand in for it.

 

ICA London