Acrobazie#5: Flavio Favelli

The project "Acrobazie" was planned by Elisa Fulco in 2004 with the intent of forging a link between contemporary art, young artists and the outsider art originating at the Atelier di Pittura Adriano e Michele, a structure active since 1996 that is hosted by the psychiatric hospital Fatebenefratelli in San Colombano al Lambro.

"Acrobazie" has aimed at moving art from the city centre to the suburbs and at creating a positive attitude toward a place, the psychiatric hospital, weighed down by social and cultural prejudices. At the annual workshops, the invited artist suggests a subject in line with their own work to be shared with the patients.

Mark (and brands), labels, Made in Italy and Italian misdemeanors are the subjects chosen by Flavio Favelli for the 2009 edition, narrated through logos, writings, geographical maps, Made in Italy icons. The structure of the book concentrates Favelli’s installations between the drawings of the patients of the Atelier, thanks to 3 books of different sizes assembled in a single stitched binding that allows one to see their differences. Moreover, the use of four different types of paper and the presence of folders with texts by Elisa Fulco, Antonio Grulli (art critic) and Luca Bagetto (philosopher) emphasizes the singularity of the works and their colours.

As in a sort of scholastic practice, all authors involved in the workshop went over the same themes, creating works that make us witnessing the identification of the sign (the author’s identity) and the misinterpretation (what belongs to whom?). The works offer a subtle reflection on the dialectics between brands and labels, identification and anonymity, serials and handmade, underlining the importance of the art as mean to leave our own print and sign our own work.

The book also features texts by Flavio Favelli, Alessandro Profumo and Rosangela Scioli. Bookdesign by Mari Conidi.