From 14 May to 18 September 2022 , the Luigi Spazzapan Regional Gallery of Contemporary Art in Gradisca d'Isonzo presents the exhibition Artist + Artist. Contemporary Visions , curated by Lorenzo Michelli and organized by ERPAC FVG - Regional Body for the Cultural Heritage of Friuli Venezia Giulia.

The exhibition is part of the larger exhibition project dedicated to the theme of the self-portrait and the portrait of an artist, promoted and developed by ERPAC in these months on three exhibition venues: at the Magazzino delle Idee in Trieste (Me, her, the other. Portraits and photographic self-portraits of female artists), at Palazzo Attems Petzenstein in Gorizia (Reflections. Self-portraits in the mirror of history) and at the Spazzapan Gallery in Gradisca d'Isonzo.

A joint initiative, to which the Spazzapan Gallery has actively adhered, as it is in line with some of its main objectives aimed at mapping and cataloging the contemporary artistic production of Friuli Venezia Giulia, as well as its enhancement and promotion. It is precisely in moments of crisis, such as the current one, that reflections and questions on the role of art become more urgent: what are its potential, its strength, its limits, its territory of action and which 'be the role of the visual artist in the historical phases in which all certainty seems to fail. The ERPAC exhibition project wants to give an answer to these questions, trying to give voice to the artists, their ambitions, their illusions and their tragic defeats, looking at the Artist with the eyes of the Artists.

In this context, the exhibition " Artist + Artist " wants to offer his interpretation and a vision of the theme of the portrait, an artistic genre that has always been very popular, which leads to two other themes: that of the identification of man and artist - of motivations that push him to work, to transmit thoughts, ideas and suggestions - and that of the relationship with the observer, the public.

The exhibition itinerary is developed in two distinct sections: the first part is dedicated to historical-documentary photography, in which a selection of three photographic collections shed light on the portrait of contemporary avant-garde artists with different optics and purposes, from the portrait of an author to reportage. These are the shots from the photographic archives of Maurizio Frullani, Branko Lenart and Mario Sillani Djerrahian.

A second section of the exhibition is dedicated to contemporary works of art created specifically by the artists invited to participate in the project. The artist in this section of the exhibition becomes more like an enigmist who works through fragments, signs and objects, which take shape through painting, photography, installations. Hence the idea that the exhibition path is a sort of map full of clues through which to grasp the meaning of the work and of the exhibition as a whole.