Mr Luciano’s suitcase
Luciano Benetton’s painting collection and travels
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Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche presents the exhibition entitles Mr Luciano’s suitcase, the exhibition of 10×12 cm paintings collected by Luciano Benetton from a number of countries around the world.
The collective exhibitions Ojo Latino (canvasses from South America) and an Eastward gaze (former Soviet Union), already held individually at the Foundation, in 2009 and 2011, are now joined, for an exchange between creative cultures and identities, by the contemporary art collections of China and Mongolia. 757 works in total arranged by Tobia Scarpa, so as to frame the paintings and immediately make the artistic iconographic dialogue of these four areas of the world appreciable.
A “democratic” collection, open to the contribution of anyone wishing to express themselves through art. Only in a few instances have the paintings been commissioned to known artists, while other artists were scouted by art experts in the various countries, others were simply met along the way and asked to express themselves, the only restriction being the canvas size, 10×12 cm. A format which is “handy” to carry, like a business card, and which gives the whole project uniformity, as a consistent experiment that ultimately aims to create visibility for the greatest possible number of artists through catalogues and exhibitions, so that together, they provide an extraordinary sample of contemporary art in the various countries.
“The collection of this exhibition,” says Luciano Benetton “represents how my passion for art meshes with another great love of mine: travelling, to countries I am fond of for various reasons and where today I feel, more than in Europe, the energy, optimism, the willingness to look forward, typical of youth. Although with different personalities, styles, themes and techniques, the presented works are connected by the common thread of a new and refined outlook, realistic yet enchanted. Together these works represent the evolution of faraway countries, they provide expressive hints on new projects for the world and society and express innovative artistic ideas for our time”.
The exhibition also includes a series of photographs depicting certain moments of his journeys.