From 24 November to 03 March 2024
As part of the annual program dedicated to research on contemporary languages, which has seen the MAN of Nuoro present artists such as Massimo Grimaldi, Alice Guareschi, Luca Spano in recent months as well as the special plan of residencies shared with the Monte Verità Foundation of Ascona, the museum announces a personal exhibition by Cristian Chironi (Nuoro 1974) exactly ten years after his last project for the MAN. Winner of Strategy Photography 2023 , a call from the Ministry of Culture which allowed the acquisition of nine works from his early production, Chironi will develop an unprecedented path at MAN entitled Living is a language and dedicated to the “Art of living”.
In fact, for some time Cristian Chironi’s research has developed through projects that require the artist to live and work in homes and art residences in various parts of the world. The best known is My house is a Le Corbusier , in which Chironi’s life is intertwined with the architecture designed by Le Corbusier in 12 countries.
Chironi was also a resident at Casa Wabi, an architecture designed by Tadao Ando near Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca. He lived in the house of the architect, designer and urban planner Pierre Jeanneret in Chandigarh, India. He lived in the house of writer Victoria Ocampo in Buenos Aires, designed by architect Alejandro Bustillo and considered the first representative house of the modern movement in Argentina. A housing project is also the one conceived by Chironi for the grottoes of the public gardens of Cagliari, a place full of history which during the Second World War was an anti-aircraft shelter and even a shelter for works of art.
In line with this path, the exploration of historic and important authorial architecture led the artist to also inhabit a “Brownstone” from 1850, a characteristic architecture located in Brooklyn and today considered among the best preserved examples of urban design of the 19th century in the United States.
Chironi’s experience in these architectures is marked by moments of solitary work and moments of exchange with visitors, in which the interpretation of the architecture is rendered through the story and direct observation of its space-time dimension. In these places, works and events are created on the spot, with a deep interest in the mix of different styles and the experimentation of unusual materials. A coherent research, focused on the concept of living explored from different perspectives. In this way, homes become a privileged observation point for the artist to understand the profound meaning of living, to reflect on issues related to gentrification and urban change. Thus, a relationship is established with the context, both human and environmental, which leads the artist to deal with ever-changing cultures and customs.
For the MAN, Chironi conceived the exhibition itinerary Living is a language , coordinated by Elisabetta Masala, in which each of the eight rooms on the second floor of the museum hosts works from different homes previously explored, with unpublished works created for the occasion.
An exhibition branch of the project is also visible at the Santino Angioi body shop in Ottana , a town not far from Nuoro, where Chironi has always customized his Fiat 127 Special, following the color combinations typical of Le Corbusier’s houses. It is no coincidence that the historic car was renamed “Chameleon”, precisely because of its ability to change the color of its bodywork depending on the places where it stops.
Friday 1st December Chameleon will be the focus of in a new version of traveling project Drive , which unites the artist and participants in a journey of urban reflection and imagination on the themes of travel, mobility, social transformations, housing and crossing borders. Together with the stories of Chironi at the helm of Camaleonte, you will be able to listen to the sound compositions created in collaboration with various musicians and sound artists: Francesco Brasini, Alessandro Bosetti, Massimo Carozzi, Daniela Cattivilli, Coro di Radio France, Paolo Fresu, Stefano Pilia, Francesco Serra, Henrik Svedlund, Dominique Vaccaro, Sophie Vitelli, and the unpublished contribution of the multi-instrumentalist from Nuoro Gavino Murgia.
Le Corbusier’s slogan “a house is a machine for living” is thus reinterpreted in Nuoro Drive , giving life to a mobile environment that condenses signs of travel and transit, in a remix of stories, trajectories and values.
The editorial part of the project will see the light in 2024, with the contribution of the American artist Charles Ray, with whom Chironi has started a collaboration for the creation of a bridge for sheep and shepherds to be built in Sardinia.
Color keyboard – FIAT 127 Special (Chameleon)
Santino Angioi body shop
Pip area Lotto 12, 08020 Ottana (NU)
from Mon. on Fri. 09.00 am> 18.00
T: +39.07841786478
01.12.23 _ Nuoro Drive
traveling performance in the city.
Departure from the MAN Museum.
There are five 30-minute trips
Timetables:
3.30pm> 4.00pm; 4.15pm> 4.45pm; 5.00pm> 5.30pm; 5.45pm> 6.15pm; 6.30pm> 7.00pm
Those wishing to participate in the 30-minute journeys with the artist can send their name, telephone number, along with the specific time slot in which they wish to participate, to the email info@museoman.it
Thanks
Fondation Le Corbusier – Paris
Fundación Casa – Mexico City
Lacasapark Art Residency – New York
The Casa de la Cultura of the National Art Fund and BIENALSUR – Buenos Aires
Pierre Jeanneret Museum – Chandigarh
Italian Cultural Institute – Mexico City
Andrea Boghi Collection – Brescia
Anna and Francesco Tampieri Collection – Nonantola
Olnick Spanu Collection – New York
Cristian Chironi is a multidisciplinary artist who lives between Mexico City and Italy. He uses different mediums including performance, photography, video, architecture, design, often creating a kind of interaction between them. Upcoming exhibitions include: Italian Cultural Institute of Mexico City; CAMERA – Italian Center for Photography, Turin. Upcoming performances include: Ivrea (Olivetti) Drive, Ivrea. www.cristianchironi.it
