contemporary locus presents a new production of artistic ideas which combines international artists’ designs, the experience of distinguished companies, and the use of innovative materials. The products are limited editions, developed to support the association’s projects. The partner companies then have the option of future large-scale production.
Since 2012, contemporary locus has invited contemporary artists to create site-specific projects in unknown, abandoned or forgotten places. For this new project, the association unveils ideas: artists are invited to engage with the subject of ‘made in Italy’, and the experience of both artisan and industrial producers, in order to create products which combine art with "know-how".
The first project has brought together the artist Diego Perrone and La Rocca srl, a company from Bergamo, a leader in the high-end sports and outdoor sector. The invitation to Diego Perrone is a result of the original nature of his research, characterized by his experimental and unconventional use of materials. The involvement of La Rocca srl, already a partner of the contemporary locus project, has been born from the desire to develop a relationship with a company of note, with a sense of the contemporary.
Diego Perrone (Italy, 1970), an artist of international renown, has exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2003 and 2013, Manifesta in 2000, at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Fondazione Trussardi in Milan, the MART of Trento, and at PS1 in New York. He is an interpreter of the contemporary condition, with a sensitivity ranging between lyricism and cynicism, matter and form, modernity and tradition, speed and slowness.
La Rocca srl, founded in 1959 and headed by Flavio Forlani, is based in Martinengo (Bergamo, Italy). It produces high-level sportswear and outdoor products. Initially a family business, production of sportswear for fashion brands began in the 80s: Paul & Shark, Ralph Lauren, and Griffin; the ski lines for Dior, Jil Sander, Marni and Michael Kors; sportswear for Valentino, Loro Piana, Fendi and Armani, for whom the uniform for the Sochi Winter Olympics were produced. La Rocca srl has always combined expertise and experience with innovation and technology.
contemporary locus is a cultural association which plans research, exhibitions and training through new artistic strategies. Founded in 2012 in Italy, and based in Bergamo, it organises exhibitions as well as research and network projects, which translate into a platform of digital tools and a dedicated app. Among the artists invited to Bergamo by contemporary locus are: Huma Bhabha and Francesco Carone, Anna Franceschini and Steve Small, Francesca Grilli and Vlad Nanca, Toderi, Tony Fiorentino, Margherita Curled octopus and Jo Thomas. Among the artists involved are: Davide Allieri, Filippo Berta, Barbara Boiocchi, Emma Ciceri, Pamela Del Curto, Diego Marcon, Jacopo Miliani, Francesco Pedrini, Luigi Presicce, Luca Resta, Anna Scalfi Eghenter, Maria Zanchi.