My Art Guide Palermo Editorial Committee
This first edition of My Art Guide Palermo has been developed thanks to an incredible editorial committee formed by Ignazio Mortellaro (Artist), Agata Polizzi (Curator), Antonella Purpura (Director of GAM Palermo). The committee has been working to select the best and most interesting art spaces, artists studios, exhibitions while Raffaella Guidobono has curated a leisure chapter with which to explore the best design shops, restaurants and bars in Palermo.
Ignazio Mortellaro (Palermo, 1978) lives and works in Palermo. In the words of curator Valentina Bruschi, from the themes he deals with and the cultural references in his work it is clear that Ignazio Mortellaro’s research method is of the scientific-philosophical type, and that it proceeds from his experience towards the articulation of an idea on the relationship between Man and Nature. Calipers and measuring instruments fill his studio: ancient and modern devices used for the maps the artist traces on paper or etches on glass. Topographical instruments which refer to a complex, yet concrete knowledge – linked to the Earth – are used to create modern maps in iron, of the terrestrial coastlines. Artificial horizons distant from one another, created by joining landscapes constructed using old postcards, take on meaning within the framework of the artwork. Territories seen “backwards” or even upside down: mental visions that represent an interiorized space of freedom, a dialogue between the “self” and the world. During the articulation of Ignazio Mortellaro’s works there is always music playing in the background and, at times, sound even becomes a part of the work itself.
Agata Polizzi (1976), lives and works in Palermo. An Art historian and independent curator, she holds a PhD in History of Architecture and Conservation of Architectural Heritage. Since 2011 she is a journalist. She has taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo, as a contract professor of Cultural Anthropology. She curates exhibitions and research projects for public and private museums, cultural institutions and national and international foundations.
Antonella Purpura is Director of the Gallery of Modern Art “Empedocle Restivo” of Palermo; she has curated numerous exhibitions and important cultural projects, including the new scientific arrangement of the collections of the GAM in Palermo. She is an artistic consultant of the Banco di Sicilia Foundation and a lecturer in the Master in Management of Artistic and Cultural Resources at the IULM in Rome.
