Staging Injustice Opening Lecture by Curator Giovanna Ginex
January 27, 2022
During the years between 1880 and 1917, the recently-born Kingdom of Italy faced complex socioeconomic predicaments. The country’s nascent industrialization was accompanied by growing inequalities, widespread poverty in the cities and in the countryside, illiteracy, and labor exploitation. These circumstances led to years of political instability, mass protests, and to the phenomenon of mass emigration towards the Americas. Many Italian artists turned their gaze to the poorest and most destitute members of their society: thanks to their innovative, Divisionist technique, their artworks denounced with vibrant figures and colors the conditions of social classes that lived a world apart from the glamour of the Belle Époque.
In this talk, Staging Injustice curator Giovanna Ginex will examine the historical coordinates that underpin CIMA’s new exhibition, and will discuss the most important artists and artworks at the center of the show.
The event will be held both in person at CIMA and online. Limited in-person seating available due to COVID-19 safety protocols.
Before visiting CIMA, please familiarize with our updated COVID-19 safety policy and protocols.
About the curator: Giovanna Ginex is an independent art curator and art historian based in Milan. She specializes in different aspects of nineteenth- and twentieth-century art, including painting, sculpture, photography, and design. She has collaborated with many institutions in Italy and abroad. Her most recent publications include La meraviglia della natura morta, 1830–1910. Dall’Accademia ai maestri del Divisionismo, exh. cat. (Milan: Cassa di Risparmio di Tortona-Skira, 2011); “Rembrandt Bugatti: From Milan to Paris,” in Rembrandt Bugatti: The Sculptor 1884–1916, eds. Philipp Demandt and Anke Daemgen, exh. cat. (München: Hirmer Verlag, 2014); Una musa tra le ruote. Pirelli: un secolo di arte al servizio del prodotto (Milan: Corraini, 2015); Elsa Smithgall-Erica E. Hirshler-Katherine M. Bourguignon-Giovanna Ginex, eds., William Merritt Chase: A Modern Master, exh. cat. (Washington D.C. and New Haven: The Phillips Collection and Yale University Press, 2016); Giovanna Ginex, “Sono Fernanda Wittgens”. Una vita per Brera (Milan: Skira, 2018). Giovanna Ginex, Angelo Morbelli. II poema della vecchiaia, exh. cat., (Venezia: Ca’ Pesaro Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna, Skira 2018); Willemijn Lindenhovius-Giovanna Ginex, eds., Sprezzatura. Vijftig Jaar Italiaanse Schilderkunst 1860-1910, exh. cat. (Assen: Drents Museum, WBOOKS, 2019) ; Giovanna Ginex, Album del Divisionismo. «Mais d’abord que sont ces ‘divisionnistes’?» (Milan: Electa, 2021). Her exhibition Divisionismo. 2 collezioni is on view at Milan’s Galleria d’Arte Moderna until March 6, 2022.
Public Programming at CIMA is made possible with the generous support of Christie’s.
