Gilbert & George to be awarded at the Florence Biennale

May 21, 2007 - PRLog -- Florence, Italy - The sixth edition of the Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art will take place at the historic Fortezza da Basso from 1st  - 9th December, 2007. This year’s edition will include, as honoured guests, the acclaimed artists Gilbert & George and from the White Cube Gallery London, Tim Marlow. Gilbert & George will be awarded the Lorenzo il Magnifico prize on 4th December.

On the successful wave of their exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London, Gilbert & George will come to Florence together with Tim Marlow, exhibitions director of the White Cube Gallery London, protagonist of the famous BBC programs dedicated to the art world, Rolf on art, founder of the Tate Magazine, and now collaborator on Channel Five, where he presents a program on current exhibitions. Tim Marlow has published several books and important artists monographs such as Auguste Rodin and Egon Schiele. He writes for various magazines and newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, Art Monthly, etc.

Gilbert & George will meet the 800 artists participating at the Biennale and visitors to the Biennale, as part of the rich calendar of conferences, meetings, video-projections. A video-documentary produced by Gilbert & George will be shown during the Florence Biennale and Tim Marlow along with Gilbert & George will give a talk about their life and work.

Since 2001, the Biennale, collaborates with the United Nations, as an official participant of the  Dialogue Among Nations program. Former Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote in support of the program:

I believe that dialogue is an opportunity for people who come from diverse cultures and traditions to know each other better whether they live on opposite sides of the world or on the same street.  


The International Scientific Committee, composed of 20 qualified members, chooses the artists and places their work into one of the categories: painting, sculpture, graphic art, mixed media, installation pieces, photography and digital art. The selection is decided upon with no prejudice towards style. The artists are selected based on the quality of their artwork and the cultural values their work represents. The International Jury that assigns recognitions and awards to the invited artists is composed of distinguished figures such Emmanuel von Lauenstein Massarani, artistic director of The Biennale; Stefano Francolini, Art Historian and Critic, Direttore settore restauro Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence, Italy; David Rubin, Curator of The Brown Foundation of Contemporary Art, San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas, USA; Elza Ajzenberg, Professor of Art and Communication, Director of The Mac, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sao Paolo, Brazil; R.B. Bhaskaran, Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi, National Academy of Art, India; Rosa Tejada, Educator Metropolitan Museum New York, USA; Gregorio Luke, director of Molaa, Latin American art museum Long Beach California, USA; Dominique Edouard Bacheler, art history teacher and art critic, Paris, France; Pasquale Celona President of the Biennale and President of the International Jury, Italy, Piero Celona, Vicepresident of the Biennale and Public Relations Manager, Italy.
The Florence Biennale is organized by Arte Studio (www.florencebiennale.org).

Political ambassador and Artistic Director of the Parliament Museum in San Paolo, Brazil Emmanuel von Lauenstein Massarani is the 2007 Biennale Director. Massarani has replaced John T. Spike in the role, who determined the fundamental philosophy of the Biennale, and in turn, its success.


For further information:
Press Office: Vito Abba
Studio Abba
Corso Italia, 6
50123 Florence
Italy
tel./fax + 39 055292082
press@florencebiennale.org
www.florencebiennale.org

Website: www.florencebiennale.org