The Gruppo Building opens the Lagrange12 courtyard and renews its commitment to public art production
Turin, 21 February 2017. In Via Lagrange, in the epicenter of the great promenade in the heart of Turin, the Lagrange12 courtyard, the 17th century building recently restored by the Building Group, opens up to the city and inaugurates the Futurist Gate – Tribute to Depero of the artist Richi Ferrero.
The work of the Turin artist is a dedication to Fortunato Depero, protagonist of the art of the ‘900, representative of the second futurism and signer of the manifesto of aeropainting. Lagrange 12 therefore opens its courtyard to the city in a dialogue between historical architecture, modern art and contemporary sculpture, which will be accessible to citizens, tourists and curious onlookers from Monday to Saturday during daylight hours.
<< The work stems from the need to formulate an important sign that dialogues with the looming presence of the rationalist tenement that closes the fourth wall of the courtyard. Futurism and Dadaism are the artistic currents in tune with the rationalist period and for this reason we were inspired by a painting by Depero depicting a motorcyclist in motion, particularly suitable, even as a subject, to ironically underline the function of entry and exit of vehicles from the courtyard. Obviously the work of Depero is inspirational in the sense that changes, additions and subtractions have been made that determine a different formal result, but placing the artifact as a tribute to the artist. Important is the transfiguration from a two-dimensional painting to a sculpture in movement since in its opening and closing the gate reveals or hides the figure of the centaur in a game that is certainly unexpected and surprising. >> tells the artist Richi Ferrero.
The Gruppo Building thus continues its mission of contemporary patronage, renewing the union with Richi Ferrero. A stone’s throw from Piazza San Carlo, the Futurist Gate – Tribute to Depero aspires to become a new attraction of the city like the courtyard of The Number 6, “the most beautiful house in the world” in Via Alfieri 6, visited by thousands of people also thanks to ArchDaily’s Building of the Year 2015 award, edited by the world’s most widely read architecture website.
<< From the vertical baroque garden to the kinetics of futurism, the work confirms the vocation for the public art of our group. At Lagrange12 as at The Number6 and in the future at Quadrato, in planning with the Academy of Fine Arts, the Salone del Libro, Paratissima, we invested in culture and creativity to share the historical heritages we recover and return them to the city, avoiding to turn them into ivory towers >> declares Piero Boffa, President of the Building Group.
The Futurist Gate – Tribute to Depero is the great Lagrange12 installation, but it is not the only one. From June 2016, when the building was inaugurated, the Equinox sculpture, a lookout of the city always created by Richi Ferrero, watches over the Turin sky from the attic of the building. Equinox is a luminous work, whose light redraws the outline of the night of the city and ideally joins the Great Warrior (private collection) and the Sagittaurus, which from corso Matteotti and corso Massimo d’Azeglio, form a triad of sculptures that Lagrange12 is the recovery of a neo-classical building on the corner of via Giolitti and via Lagrange, recently used as the seat of the municipal police municipal offices, returned to its splendor in the new Turin lounge where the brands have recently opened their flagship stores tip. The complex consists of seven exclusive apartments, two penthouses, with a panoramic terrace overlooking the heart of the city and a large storey building on three floors, Lagrange12. The space is a luxury multibrand with an area of about twelve hundred square meters distributed over three floors, five entrances, three of which are on Via Lagrange and two on Via Giolitti. The G&B Negozio store, a Brescia-based company founded in 1981 under the guidance of Gianni Peroni, has become an important reference point for Turin, Italian and international fashion shopping in just a few months. Some of the most important fashion brands are present with their “shop in shops”: Alexander Mcqueen, Balenciaga, Balmain, Bottega Veneta, Bulgari, Burberry, Celine, Chloé, Christian Dior, Homme, Fendi, Ferragamo, Ferragamo, Givenchy, Loewe , René Caovilla, Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Thom Browne and many others …
Futurist Gate-Tribute to Depero will be open at Lagrange12 at the following times: Monday-Friday morning 8.30- 12.30 / afternoon 14.30- 19 Saturday morning between 9 and 11 Closed on Sunday.
