To celebrate the advent of the third millennium, Credito Valtellinese Gallery is hosting works by some European contemporary artists in its stands in Milan (former Stelline Refectory). Since long, the Gallery has been linked to the theme of the Last Supper, not only because it is located close to the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Corso Magenta, where the famous fresco by Leonardo Da Vinci is kept, but also because the first exhibition mounted at the Gallery was a major Andy Warhol exhibition on the Last Supper. Some of the exhibitions expected for 2000 will be devoted to the same subject.

The calendar for the year, prepared in association with the A.I.C.E.M. - which unites six European cultural centres based in Milan (i.e. Centre Culturel Français, Istituto Austriaco di Cultura a Milan, British Council, Goethe Institut, Instituto Cervantes and Centro Culturale Svizzero) - includes exhibitions of three couples of artists of different age and style who come from the above-mentioned countries.

The exhibitions will be hosted also at the Centre Culturel Français stands in Corso Magenta No 63.

Late in March, the Gallery already hosted Martial Raysse (France) and Hermann Nitsch (Austria) exhibition. In June, the Gallery will host Damien Hirst (Great Britain) and a Spanish art collection belonging to the period 1950-1970 of the Foundation La Caixa (including works by Tàpies, Saura, Chillida and more). Finally, in November, the Gallery will host Daniel Spoerry (Switzerland) and a collection from Germany to be defined.

SPANISH ART '50s to the '70s

Still today, it is quite difficult to speak about the XX century Spanish art - in particular that of the post-war period - without mentioning the historical and sociological context. In his introduction to the exhibition, Eugenio Carmona makes a few considerations on the problem of Spain, that is the problem concerning the complicated relationship between identity and modernity, which profoundly affects the contemporary Spanish art.

The cultural isolation of Spain after the Civil War along with expatriation at the risk of losing a point of reference represented by the native culture cannot be left apart.

Ever since the early XX century, in Spain, the contact with modernity essentially meant having a confrontation with one's own identity. The native culture was consequently at stake. Spain was trying to conciliate modernity and native culture. The Civil War interrupted such a process and Franco's dictatorship led to regression. Gradually, associations of artists either interfered with personalities of the past or tried to renovate. But this meant to begin from nothing whereas the modern art had already been sanctioned as the official art in the U.S.A. and in the other European countries.

During Franco's dictatorship the Spanish artists had not only to claim modernity as a value but they also had to face problems concerning their own cultural identity. Artists who began to work in the '40s and '50s wondered how the problem of the modern art was to be faced. They knew that their works were worth more. They needed either to find a genuine cultural identity of Spain or to follow the Spanish artists of the past.

They soon realised that working in Spain without any contact with the contemporary art meant being an exile. Since then, the best art has been somehow linked to rebellion against Franco's dictatorship

The exhibition mounted at Credito Valtellinese Gallery in association with Milan Instituto Cervantes includes 35 works of the'550s to the '70s belonging to a collection of Barcelona Foundation La Caixa. The works selected by Maria De Corral - person in charge for the Contemporary Art Collection of La Caixa, are divided into three groups. The first group is the bigger one and includes works by abstractionists of the '50s (Antonio Saura, Manuel Millares, Luis Feito, Rafael Canogar and martin Chirino who joined the Group El Paso together with artists such as Antoni Tapies, José Guerriero, Lucio Munoz and Gustavo Torner. The second one includes works by Albert Ràfols Casamada, Josep Guinovart and two paintings by Antoni Tàpies. The works by Eduardo Arroyo and Equipo Crònica are very different (Realism Nouveau Realism and Pop Art).

THE LAST SUPPER di DAMIENHIRST

The Last Supper is a collection of 13 big-size silk screen-printings that the British artist realised last year for the Paragon Press. The title of the exhibition obviously hints at one of the major themes of west culture. Hirst - whose works are hosted for the first time in a personal exhibition in Milan - has tried to approach the subject from a completely human point of view neglecting any transcendent aspect. His "Supper" consists of simple, ordinary, popular food - e.g. liver, chicken, beans etc. - presented as if it was a medication, inside typically pharmaceutical packets. Damien Hirst (Bristol, 1956) is probably the most famous of the Young British Artists. He came to the limelight at the end of the '80s. He is best known for his "provocations" and outrageous works. Hirst is known also for his cult-exhibitions, such as "Freeze" (1988) and for taking part in the most important group exhibitions of the '90s: "Young British Artists" (1992) Saatchi Collection and the recent "Sensation". He also mounted a great number of personal exhibitions hosted at the most important international stands: Jay Joplin in London, Larry Gagosian in New York.

The exhibition in Milan sponsored by the British Council and hosted at Credito Valtellinese Group Gallery is part of a program that European cultural institutions prepared for 2000 A bilingual brochure edited by Marco Menegazzo and a poster published by the Paragon Press are also available

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