Verona, First Step: the widespread exhibition project of the Academy of Fine Arts is underway.

At the race start the eleventh edition of First Step, the project with which, since 2008, the Academy of Fine Arts of Verona has supported the inclusion in the art system and the professional growth of its students and former students through workshops, conferences and exhibitions held in art galleries, institutions and exhibition spaces in the Verona area and in the main neighbouring cities.

"Once again, virtuous relationships are intertwined within what is the great sea of ​​the city's cultural offerings. - highlights the president of the 4th council commission Pietro Trincanato –. In this case, it is one of the positive collaborations carried out between the Municipality and the Academy of Fine Arts of Verona, which aims to support the inclusion of young artists in the art system. The involvement of some of the main city galleries is important, which will become the places where the works of the various artists involved in the event will be exhibited".

The review, which enjoys the patronage of the Municipality of Verona, is curated by Sergio Breviario, Daniele Salvalai and Giuseppe Vigolo, professors of the Department of Visual Arts of the Academy coordinated by Prof. Katia Brugnolo. “The title chosen for this edition, 'Prima eravamo soli', is a reference to a collaborative galaxy, to the professional universe in which we hope the young artists of First Step can enter and gravitate.” declare the curators.

"The aim of this complex program, designed by the Academy with a solid network of partners –, he declares Andrea Falsirollo President of the Academy - is to create a widespread event, which celebrates students and the languages ​​of the arts at all levels and which can be transformed into a meeting, where training embraces the art system, the city and its artists, the public and research.".

"In the years - he adds the vice director of the Academy of Fine Arts Ismaele Chignola – the project has turned into an annual event, growing in each edition to consolidate itself into an open meeting between the Academy and the territory, a constructive comparison between artists, galleries, collectors and the public".

Exhibition program and news

The calendar of events opens today, 5th November with the inauguration of the first of ten solo and two-person exhibitions scheduled and continuing until the end of December in the spaces of A+B Gallery, Arena Studio d'Arte, Artericambi Gallery, Boccanera Gallery, Casa Capra, Fonderia 20.9, Habitat Ottantatre, MARCOROSSI artecontemporanea, NUMA contemporary and Studio la Città.

New this year is the institution of the First Step Prize to be awarded to one of the participants and which consists in the possibility of spending a period in residence at a European institution engaged in the research and diffusion of contemporary art.

In "competition", therefore, there are 14 young artists taking their first steps in the art system. Selected among students and former students of the Academy, first by a commission of experts composed of the architect Lorenza Baroncelli, the artist Ermanno Cristini and the art historian Leonardo Regano, and subsequently by the galleries and exhibition spaces partnering the project, the artists Matteo Bernabè, Silvia Forese, Letizia Frescura, Laura Gelsomini, Milena Gottardo, the HACK collective, Eleonora Mutto, Davide Nitti, Anna Ronchiato, Ismaele Soraperra, Selene Tenca, Sara Zottarelli and Chiara Zuanazzi present some recent works ranging from photography to installation, from sculpture to painting, up to performance and video.

In continuity with the past editions of First Step, characterised by the experimentation of formats and activities in relation to the evolution of the art system, the project hosted a series of conferences during the academic year with some of the protagonists of the contemporary scene including Paola Angelini, Dario Bonetta, Irene Guzman, Mattia Pajè and Alberto Scodro.