Open Studios

For Lo Schermo dell’Arte Film Festival 2011, CCC Strozzina presents the premieres of nine of the eighteen videos produced as part of the Open Studios project – visits to artists’ studios – curated by CCC Strozzina as part of Toscanaincontemporanea 2010, a network promoted by Regione Toscana to support local contemporary art. Of all contemporary art spaces, the artist’s studio is where the creative process leading to works of art is developed. How does an artist work, in his studio? How much does the workspace influence his/her artistic practice? For two years, 30 artists of several generations (born between the 50s and 80s) who work in or around Florence, Prato, Pistoia, Pisa and Siena, all of them exponents of areas of artistic research that include painting, photography, video, installations, performance and sound art, opened their studios. In their private workspaces, they received those who wanted to approach the world of contemporary art through direct encounters with its protagonists. The studio visits, facilitated by mediators, were moments of authentic dialogue between public and artist. The video documentation of these encounters was produced thanks to the collaboration of the Dipartimento di Storia delle Arti dell’Università di Pisa and with ISIA, Florence. Young art mediators from the Universities of Florence, Pisa and Siena supported the artists during the visits, which often led to intense exchanges of ideas.