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4 December 2023

Held at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence last October, the XIV Florence Biennale. International Exhibition of Contemporary Art and Design was confirmed as an exhibition of international relevance as it was marked by success in terms of both the public (the almost 13,000 visitors represented an increase of 25% compared to the last edition held in 2021), critics (the average review is very large), and participants: more than 600 registered from 84 countries from all five continents.

As in 2021, the event will offer a major appendix with the Exhibition of the winning artworks in the various competition categories: from Thursday 11 to Sunday 28 January 2024, the works most voted by the International Jury of the XIV Florence Biennale can be admired in the Exhibition Hall of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence (Via Ricasoli 68, Florence) and can be viewed, with free entry, every day (excluding Mondays), from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Sundays only from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; also on 11 January, at 11 a.m., there will be a media conference to present the exhibition with a preview, while the opening will be held at 5 p.m.

"We are pleased to once again be guests of the Accademia delle Arti e del Disegno," says Jacopo Celona, General Director of the Florence Biennale, "an institution that has been promoting art and artists for over 450 years, especially in this prestigious venue that has had personalities such as Michelangelo, Leonardo and Palladio among its students. The great success of the 2023 edition of the Florence Biennale, witnessed by participants, critics and the public, and reverberated by the national and international media, could only prelude a continuation of absolute prestige as the exhibition of the winning artists. This is also evidence of the high level reached by the event, thanks to the continuous qualitative growth of the cultural and artistic projects, which has now become a point of reference on the international scene".

"I am delighted that the spaces of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno have once again been chosen for the exhibition of the winning artworks at the XIV Florence Biennale. International Exhibition of Contemporary Art and Design," adds Cristina Acidini, President of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno of Florence. "Two years ago, the winning works of the 13th edition of the event, created by artists from different continents, invaded the austere spaces of Palazzo dei Beccai; this time it is the turn of the exhibition venue in Via Ricasoli and it is curious to verify that in at least one case it is an 'encore', a sign that this relationship between the Accademia wanted by Cosimo I de' Medici and the Florence Biennale has brought good luck and perhaps it will be a good omen for new goals, always in the name of art".

The artworks on display are those that won first prize in the 'Lorenzo il Magnifico' Award for each of the 12 competition categories: for Painting, the Argentinian-Portuguese artist Maria Pacheco Cibils; for Video Art, the short film "Eight Birch Trees" by Alla Chiara Luzzitelli, born in Russia, but resident in Turin; for New Media Art the 71-year-old Belgian Lode Coen with his "own personal renaissance"; for Photography, the American (but Hungarian by birth) Mati Gelman; for Textile Art, the Chinese Wang Qin, who teaches at the University of Shanghai; for Jewellery, New Zealand's Stacey Whale; for Drawing, Calligraphy and Printmaking, Anna Plavinskaya (born in Russia, but living in the USA), who already came third in the same category at the XII Florence Biennale in 2019; for Installation Art, Matteo Zamagni from Rimini (resident in London), who has been working for years in the world of art connected to technology; for Ceramic Art, Carlo Zoli from Faenza (but born in Bari), who presented I sacri fratelli, a work dedicated to Castor and Pollux; for Mixed Media the German artist Patrizia Casagranda, who repeated the success of 2021 with a series dedicated to the women soldiers of the Ukrainian resistance; and for Sculpture, the South African artist Marco Olivier with his monumental resin faces.

The artworks of these artists were joined by the winners of the International Open Call Competition, organised with Art Market Magazine and Lens Magazine, whose works were used for the integrated communication of the XIV Florence Biennale: Jean-Michel Bihorel from France and Viktoria Andreeva from Bulgaria.

The exhibition in the Exhibition Hall of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence will be completed by the artwork awarded by the public at the XIV Florence Biennale, in collaboration with Scan.art, the revolutionary system that allowed visitors to scan artworks with their smartphones to receive digital, contactless information about the artwork and the artist. Each scan of an artwork counted towards the Visitor Award, which was won by 'The Last Flight' by Peruvian artist (but living in Spain) Héctor Acevedo.

EXHIBITION INFO
I Am You - Exhibition of the winners of the XIV Florence Biennale
11.01.2024 - 28.01.2024
Exhibition Hall of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno of Florence
Via Ricasoli 68, Florence
Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-1pm and 5pm-7pm; Sunday 10am-1pm; Monday closed
Free Entrance
Thursday, 11.01.2024 11 am: conference and preview of the exhibition for the media; 5 pm: exhibition opening
Catalogue published by Polistampa

Florence Biennale Media Office