Museion continues its in-depth exploration of its own collection with the exhibition You and the Night and the Music - The Francesco Conz Editions from the Museion Collection. It is dedicated in particular to the artistic editions of Francesco Conz, a key figure in the promotion of the international neo-avant-garde in Italy and its artistic creation.
The exhibition, curated by Frida Carazzato, was developed in collaboration with the Fondazione Bonotto and with curatorial advice from Patrizio Peterlini. Based on the museum collection, it presents the cultural legacy and artistic vision of Francesco Conz, who worked at the intersection of Fluxus and Visual and Concrete Poetry and thus made a decisive contribution to the dissemination of these artistic practices at home and abroad. The title of the exhibition refers to a work by Gerhard Rühm. The visual artist, musician, poet and co-founder of the Wiener Gruppe was one of the first artists with whom Francesco Conz collaborated on the design of large-format artistic editions.
The title "You and the Night and the Music" suggests a visualization of the relationship between art, time and the relationship between artist, collector and museum institutions. The conjunction "and" that appears in Rühm's work thus becomes a metaphor for the network of cultural connections that enabled the emergence of a significant core collection at Museion, as well as for the figure of Conz himself, who brought together artistic and human experiences with great passion.
Indeed, collectors and art critics played a fundamental role in the history of the museum's collection. Personalities such as Paolo Della Grazia, who donated his collection to Museion in 2020, Luigi Bonotto, Henry Martin and many others have contributed to the profiling of an artistic heritage that today represents an indispensable reference for the study of the neo-avant-garde. Thanks to their work, Museion has been able to expand its own collection with a body of work that testifies to the importance of editorial and serigraphic creation as a means of disseminating contemporary art.
Robert Lax, Red - yellow - blue, 1990, Museion Collection. Photo: Augustin Ochsenreiter
The exhibition will take place in the central space of the Museion Passage, an area specifically designed to accommodate dynamic and publicly accessible installations. In this area, as well as in the Corner - which can be visited until November 16, 2025 - a selection of screen prints on canvas will be on display, which Conz has designed with a view to their easy transportability and flexible presentation in various contexts. The serigraphs will enter into a dialog with video works, multiples and other works from artistic editions, illustrating the special role of editorial practice as an artistic tool as well as an effective space of contamination and exchange in line with the spirit of Fluxus.
The exhibition is rounded off by the presentation of the multi-volume work La Livre. This is Francesco Conz's last and only recently realized edition project, which is being presented in Italy for the first time on this occasion. The long history of the work's creation is closely linked to Brunnenburg Castle near Merano, as it consists exclusively of works by artists who were invited by Conz to work on the poet Ezra Pound. Pound lived in Brunnenburg Castle for fourteen years. La Livre was published by Archivio Conz Berlin.
A central figure in this network of relationships and a prominent protagonist of the exhibition is Berty Skuber, who is represented by numerous works in the Museion collection.
The personality of Francesco Conz, who would have turned 90 this year, will also be honored with the screening of Roberto Delvoi's documentary film Conz. L'ultimo collezionista. It will be shown in the Museion Infolounge.
April 1, 2025 to January 31, 2026
www.museion.it
