Igor Grubić. Another Green World

29th may 2021
11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Villa Comunale di Napoli

Curated by Adriana Rispoli

The Morra Foundation, in collaboration with the Association Premio GreenCare Aps is delighted to announce Another Green World by Igor Grubic, curated by Adriana Rispoli. The exhibition is presented within the framework of “May of Monuments 2021” and promoted by Naples City Hall.

Taking place on Saturday 29 May (11am – 10pm), the open-air exhibition at the public garden the Villa Comunale di Napoli consists of a program of approximately fifty micro-interventions that interact with the building’s architectural and neoclassical and modern sculptures, as well as the site’s historical context and a performance dedicated to the poet Dante Alighieri. With Another Green World Igor Grubic aims to awaken collective awareness about this public space, which has crucial importance for different communities. FAI Giovani Napoli will welcome citizens and tourists at Villa Comunale to guide them through the exhibition.

Another Green World is a political-poetic-artistic intervention, an expression of participatory activism that involves the entire community, beginning with those who have daily contact with the Villa, such as children and the elderly. This approach is typical in Grubic’s practice, perhaps best expressed in his 366 Liberation Rituals, a set of thirty-three “cathartic” actions carried out during 2008.

The Villa Comunale becomes a monumental stage to express urgencies that have become even more pressing during the last year: particularly the need to go back to nature, to communal life, to solidarity, to collective and individual responsibility. Such needs compel us to live with awareness and courage, steadfast in our belief that “La Rivoluzione siamo Noi” (we are the revolution).

“[…]Public gardens have always been respected by the communities that live with them. They are resources for leisure, but also constitute an opportunity for education and research. Public gardens can play a significant role in a community’s sustainable development. In Naples, small public green areas have been absolutely necessary during this pandemic. The theme of my project is the city’s ‘green system,’ in other words: discovering its value and role as part of the heritage of a place. Trees are heritage, living matter, an elementary part of our cultural and historical whole. To bring art into Nature and Nature into art. The whole world is a stage to play, the world is like an atelier and the atelier is like a world. The garden is a Museum without walls: trees are our brushes, parks our palettes[…].” (I.G.)

The original texts (Micropolitical Statements, How to-flags), the quotes by Gramsci and Beuys, Brecht and Mayakovsky (Little Quote Lessons) and the micro-interventions on sculptures (Suprematist Compositions, Black Noses-Scarves-Bends, Black Strips) aim to raise awareness and generate respect towards the common good and the community’s history and identity. They invite the public to approach their surrounding reality in a poetic-artistic-ecological way.

Igor Grubic, already present in Naples upon the invitation of the Quartiere Intelligente and the Morra Foundation, for his first public intervention in the city he chose the Villa Comunale because of its importance to Naples’ citizens. Another Green World developed from two years of work and expresses Grubic’s public and participatory approach to art—often described as “poetic terrorism” – which brings together respect for monuments and the intention to awaken both individual and collective awareness.

The exhibition also includes the collaboration of Neapolitan artist Roberto Pugliese, whose multimedia works explore audio-visual research through multisensory installations. His sound piece Another Green World is Possible will be accessible to the public via their smartphones. A text by students participating in the Creative Language Workshop from the Middle School Carlo Poerio will also be available. The cardboards used in the exhibition are recycled materials provided by Formaperta.

Igor Grubic (Zagreb, 1969) is one of the most significant artists from Eastern Europe. Since the nineties he’s been working with photography, video, and actions in public spaces. His practice is defined by socio-political interest and historical research. His projects span from research on historical monuments to the end of industry in the former Yugoslavia and the study of minorities. They are developed over years of investigation as well as personal relations. Rooted in the tradition of documentary, Grubic’s work in photography and cinema is characterized by a meditative and empathetic approach, deeply human and often poetic.

Grubic has participated in several international exhibitions, including Manifesta 4 (Frankfurt, 2002); Manifesta 9 (Genk, 2012); Gender Check, mumok (Vienna, 2009); 11^th Istanbul Biennale (2009); 4^th fotofestival Mannheim Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg (2011); East Side Stories, Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2012); Gwangju Biennale (2014);  Zero Tolerance, MOMA PS1 (New York, 2014); Degrees of Freedom, MAMbo (Bologna, 2015); Heavenly Creatures, MG+MSUM (Ljubljana, 2018); The Value of Freedom, Belvedere 21 (Vienna, 2018); Yerevan Biennial (2020); Bigger than Myself, MAXXI (Rome, 2021). He represented Croatia at the 58^th Venice Biennial in 2019 with the project “Traces of Disappearing in Three Acts.”

His works are part of major collections such as: Tate Modern, London; Kadist Art Collection, San Francisco and Paris; Kunsthaus Zurich; FRAC Champagne-Ardenne Collection, Reims; Arte Fiera Bologna Collection; ALT Arte Contemporanea Bergamo; Museum Sztuki, Lodz; ECB Frankfurt; Contemporary Art Museum Belgrade; MSU Zagreb; Art Collection Telekom, Bonn; Kontakt – The Art Collection of the Erste Group, Vienna.

“Another Green World,” is presented with the kind support of Corrado Gugliotta-Galleria Laveronica, Luca Barbeni-Nome Gallery, Gianni Bellucci, Tommaso e Paola Guerini, Lorenzo Lomonaco Collection, Maria Pia Pignalosa, Jane Ritter, Elena Cirillo e Alessandro Savelli, Lorenzo Xiques.