Every day millions of liters of detergent spill into the ocean. Ideally, they are considered 92% bio-degradable…but the remaining 8%? The fluorescent installation What about the 8%?, created by the artist Maria Cristina Finucci for the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles, raises the question of detergent pollution in the oceans. The site-specific work simulates the water’s surface where dissolved detergents are colorfully transformed by chemical reagents creating an unnatural fluorescent effect. In the darkness, the detersive patina of the ocean cries for assistance through the scrawled writing HELP, a stylistic expression used by the artist throughout her work.
The unveiling of the art-installation will be accompanied by a conversation featuring the artist and Marisa Caichiolo, an artist herself, founder of Building Bridges Art Exchange in Santa Monica and curator of DIVERSEartLA, a Museum and Institutions platform part of LA ART SHOW. They will discuss how provocative and visually striking art raises awareness of the current climate emergency.
Opening and Conversation with the Artist
Date: October 14 2022
Time: 6:00 pm
Venue: Italian Cultural Institute
1023 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles
Event organized by the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles
under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy
on the occasion of Giornata del Contemporaneo – Italian Contemporary Art 2022
An architect and artist, MARIA CRISTINA FINUCCI started her research at a very young age, encompassing painting, sculpture, architecture, design, video art, and film post-production. With the founding of the Garbage Patch State in 2013 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Finucci gave a concrete image to the environmental disaster caused by the plastic and microplastic waste adrift in the oceans (garbagepatchstate.org). Her project “Wasteland” is an ongoing series of art installations and actions unfolding in iconic locations around the world, with the aim of disseminating a series of “clues” that provocatively suggest the existence of a “garbage nation.”
Her major installations took place: in Venice (during the 2013 Biennale); Madrid (ARCO, 2014); Rome (MAXXI Museum, 2014); New York (United Nations,2014); Milan (EXPO 2015); Venice (Bluemed,2015); Paris (COP 21,2015); Mozia (Sicily, 2016); Rome (Roman Forum,2018); Milan (Fuorisalone 2019). In her role as Chief of State, in 2018 she signed the UN Agenda 2030. Finucci’s is shown in Museums, Institutions and Foundations across the world.
In February 2019, Maria Cristina Finucci was honored with the title of Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. In 2022, she established the Finucci Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes art for the Planet and its inhabitants.
MARISA CAICHIOLO is an artist and curator who studied art history and curatorial studies, she holds a PhD in art history and psychology. Her research focuses primarily on the impact of social and political changes in society. She focuses on cultural exchanges researching cultural production fluctuating between theory and practice.
Her curatorial projects have been shown internationally, including MUSA Museum of Arts of the University of Guadalajara (Mexico); Kirchner Cultural Center, Buenos Aires, (Argentina); DOX Center for Contemporary Arts, Prague (Czech Republic); Frost Science Museum, Miami (USA); PVAC Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes (California); Building Bridges Art Foundation, Los Angeles (California); KATARA Cultural Center, Doha (Qatar); Sharjah Museum of Contemporary Art, Dubai (United Arab Emirates); Anaheim Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, Anaheim (California); Telefónica Art Foundation, Santiago (Chile); among others.
She is the founder of Building Bridges International Art Foundation an international non-profit organization based in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County. The foundation is conceived to be a platform for critical thinking and researching, local and international programs in Los Angeles, art residencies, and education programs among others.
She was part of the curatorial team for several international biennials, such as the Casablanca Biennale, Morocco; Sharjah Biennale, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; Biennial of the Americas, Denver, Colorado; among others. She is also an active board member for Bugatti Foundation, Italy; Now Art LA, Los Angeles; and the Advisory Board of the DAP Program at The Broad, Los Angeles.