On Wednesday, October 4th, the Italian Cultural Institute of New York [2] inaugurated “Marco Anelli: Building Magazzino” [3] an exhibition featuring a selection of Anelli’s photographs, recounting the construction of Magazzino Italian Art.

From former factory to art warehouse

Located in Cold Spring, Magazzino – Italian for warehouse - was a former 1960s computer factory that was completely remodeled and expanded by Spanish architect Miguel Quismondo into an 18,000-square-foot exhibition space. The institution opened to the public in July 2017 and it is dedicated to exhibiting one of the largest collection of post-war and contemporary Italian works in the United States.

Anelli photographs the construction of Magazzino Italian Art

Throughout the transformation process into an art exhibition space, Italian photographer Marco Anelli [4] was commissioned by Magazzino co-founders Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu [5]to capture the progress and construction workers on the site. “We at Magazzino Italian Art are honored to have commissioned and now present the photographic work of Marco Anelli,” they said. “Not only did he follow the various stages of construction, but he also captured the instrumental people devoted to this project in the most elegant and soulful way over the past few years.” Magazzino founders, Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu, added.

Curated by Magazzino’s Director Vittorio Calabrese [6], the exhibition traces the creation of the art institution, from the initial excavations to the installation of artworks in the galleries. In his body of work, Anelli highlights the relationship between architecture, landscape and the workers, individuals otherwise forgotten whose efforts have been instrumental to the construction of Magazzino.

“Marco’s photographs are more than a document of Magazzino’s creation. The expansiveness of Marco’s approach, which embraces the project of Magazzino in all its human and material aspects, is a fitting tribute to the founders, Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu. The intricate ecosystem of artists, designers, builders, and researchers that Nancy and Giorgio have fostered is revealed in minute detail through the medium of Marco’s pictures.” said Vittorio Calabrese.

Italian Culture Minister visits Anelli’s exhibition at the ICI

On the occasion of the exhibition opening, the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, Giorgio Van Straten [7], the artist, Marco Anelli, and Magazzino Italian Art’s founders, Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu gave introductory remarks. Additionally, during the Week of Italian Language in the World, Vittorio Calabrese and Marco Anelli welcomed Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage Dario Franceschini [8], who was in New York for the occasion, on a private tour of the exhibition. The entourage also included Armando Varricchio [9], Italian ambassador to the United States, Giorgio Van Straten, and Francesco Genuardi [10].

Anelli’s larger body of work will be featured in its entirety in the photographic book  Marco Anelli: Building Magazzino, to be published by Skira Rizzoli [11] and available in bookstores in December 2017. As Magazzino Italian Art’s first editorial project, the catalogue includes a preface by Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu along with essays by Manuel Blanco, Alberto Campo Baeza, Marvin Heiferman, Miguel Quismondo and Vittorio Calabrese.