On the occasion of Giornata del Contemporaneo promoted by AMACI, on Saturday, October 12, 2024, at 11:00 AM, Careof hosts the presentation of the book “A Place to Stay” by Cecilia Mentasti, published by Corraini Edizioni with graphic design by Alessio D’Ellena and produced by Video Sound Art with the support of MiC and SIAE, as part of the “Per Chi Crea” program.

“A Place to Stay” is an exhibition, consisting of a sound installation and several sculptures, and a book that brings together, alongside written contributions by Marta Cereda, Davide Colombo, Laura Lamonea, and Giulia Zompa, a selection of photographs of dogs. These are the animals to whom Cecilia Mentasti recounted anecdotes from the history of 20th-century Italian art, rewritten after a long period of study in libraries and archives to outline a personal itinerary, where lesser-known works are selected and overlooked or non-mainstream figures are reconsidered. Relationships and connections emerge, friendships among artist, critic, gallerists that humanize the history of art through experiences and contributions.

The event will take place in the park between via Messina and Fabbrica del Vapore, a privileged meeting place with dogs, the primary recipients of the project.

“The dog, in a listening posture and as an intermediary with our origins, proves to be the right recipient of the question that seems to emerge from Mentasti’s work: what is art today and what role should it play in society? In the history of art, the dog is a recurring presence and has taken on multiple functions: devotional icon, mediumistic observer, link between the author and the viewer, witness of events and social transformations.”
Excerpt from "Parlare con i cani”, Laura Lamonea

“In her stories - layered upon one another in a potentially endless work in progress - Cecilia Mentasti tells us about artists, but above all about diverse works that span the entire 20th century. A map, an archipelago, a constellation, a puzzle of names and titles, of works and ideas, that, intertwined in a temporary and partial balance, speak to us of 20th-century Italian art and the connections created between distant times and places.”
Excerpt from “L’espansione dei plurali. Storie di Opere di artisti, di luoghi e di tempi dove andare e dove tornare”, Davide Colombo

“Mentasti’s project is therefore also a search for correspondences and legitimization, a reconstruction of familiar relationships and a lineage that starts from known, lived, and beloved places, from a cultural periphery that the artist instead identifies and claims as a possible space for gestation, research, and production, even outside canonical centers.”
Excerpt from “Un posto, questo posto”, Marta Cereda

"A Place to Stay" is thus an attempt to create a mental and emotional space in which stories are lived, reinterpreted, and made one’s own, establishing bonds with other artists beyond hierarchies and temporal boundaries, in a closeness that may offer companionship, perhaps even comfort, just like a faithful friend… a dog.”
Excerpt from "Abitare le storie degli altri”, Giulia Zompa