Andrea Bianconi. The Sentinel

From the Studio to the World. The journey of an armchair in a book

How many times have we heard of the artist's studio as a parallel universe where ideas invade space and mind? How many times have we been contaminated by an environment such as a magnetic field? From that space, from the artist's studio of Andrea Bianconi, in Arzignano (Vicenza) the journey of the armchair of Sit Down To Have An Idea. Not just any armchair but one to which the artist attributed a maieutic value: sit down and let an idea arise.
From there, then, the armchair traveled from the North to the South of Italy, starting from Bologna and returning to Vicenza and this book, The Sentinel, it is the chronicle of that journey in images and words. A journey through the places that the armchair has touched and of which it is still a garrison in place and in words. The reflections of Andrea Bianconi, written deliberately by hand, they appear between the pages of the volume as uninterrupted flows of thought. They are not born, perhaps, so the ideas?

The project - carried out in collaboration with Testori house and Coppola Foundation and in support of the Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation - started with the installation of the chair in public places in the city of Bologna during ArteFiera – ArtCity 2020 and al Duse Theater, shortly before lockdown, after the imposed stop, has reactivated by conquering the open spaces of Cima Carega, with an expedition-performance in the Small Venetian Dolomites, going south, a Tropea, where, in a sort of propitiation rite, the dawn lights were expected in Piazza Cannone. Then, back to Castelbianco collection (in the hinterland of Albenga, Savona) in one of the most beautiful medieval villages in Italy, first telematic village in Italy e, then, further north, under the bell tower of the town of Chiampo (Vicenza) as a symbol of the rebirth of that area.
In July 2021 the chair reaches the Tower of the Coppola Foundation in Vicenza where beams of light, issued by people during the performance The Millennium Chair, they become, with a symbolic action, a trace of the living presence of people who activate ideas and bearers of light, which is very necessary in difficult moments.

Seven stages for a single story of which the book does not represent a conclusion but a new beginning in the name of that cyclical time that characterizes, always, the performances and works of Andrea Bianconi.
Art as an eternal return from beginning to end, and viceversa.

Andrea Bianconi was born in Arzignano (WE) in 1974. Lives and works in Brooklyn (NEW) and Vicenza (Italy). His work ranges from different artistic forms of performance, painting and sculpture with exhibitions in public museums and private spaces all over the world. The latest project of the 2020 è Sit Down To Have An Idea.
In 2019 in the prison of San Vittore, a Milano, performs in the performance "How to build a direction", a touching performance made with the CETEC theater company Dentro / Fuori San Vittore, which includes some inmates. In the same year in Houston, in Texas, in the spaces of the Barbara Davis Gallery, created the "Breakthrough" exhibition, which wins first place among the "brightest exhibitions of the new season" in the article by Meredith Mendelsohn, New York Times critique. The Barbara Davis Gallery, prestigious American gallery, represents Andrea Bianconi in the US for over 10 years organizing a solo exhibition dedicated to the artist every year. In 2018 he was the first Italian artist invited to Davos (Swiss), during the 48th edition of the World Economic Forum to present his performance "Voice to the Nature" to heads of state around the world, a complaint on the ongoing ecocide to remind world leaders of the urgent need to act "now and not later" for the well-being of the planet.
He is currently working on a large solo exhibition at the Barbara Davis Gallery, of Houston TX scheduled for fall winter 2021/2022 and a public seating installation in Houston (inauguration 26 January 2022).
A new performance will come to life in December touching some places in Italy.
www.andreabianconi.com