Speakers 2012

Piero Gilardi (b. 1942 in Turin) debuted in 1963 with the Neo-Dada exhibition Macchine per il futuro at Galleria L'Immagine in Turin. He achieved fame in 1965 with his “Nature Carpets”: polyurethane pieces that reproduce fragments of the natural environment in an extremely realistic manner, with an approach that is playful, yet also critical of how lifestyles have grown increasingly artificial. In 1968, Gilardi stopped making works in order to help lay the theoretical foundations of new artistic movements: Arte Povera, Land Art, and Anti-Form. In 1967-1968 he took part in organizing the first two international Nouvelle Tendance exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Bern Kunsthalle. Beginning in 1968, and throughout the Seventies, his artistic activities were flanked by political activism in “New Left” (extra-parliamentary, radical) groups, embracing artistic movements based on collective, spontaneous creativity and working in various social contexts, where he made his own contribution to basic cultural life. He undertook creative projects not only in Italy, but in Nicaragua, in various African countries, and on Native American reservations in the USA. He returned to the full-fledged production of art in 1981, describing his artistic and ideological journey in a book titled Dall'arte alla vita, dalla vita all'arte (“From Art to Life, from Life to Art”). In 1985 he began an artistic exploration of new technology through the IXIANA project, presented at the Parc de la Villette in Paris, which envisioned a technology park where the general public could experience digital technology in an artistic way. Over the last few years he has developed a series of interactive multimedia installations, and has been intensely active around the world. Most of Gilardi’s recent work is linked by the theme of interaction between artwork and viewer. He has been working on the City of Turin’s Parco Arte Vivente (“Living Art Park”) project since 2002, formerly as its chair and now as a member of the Artistic Direction Committee.