ON OUR RADAR | HAPPENINGS | CABANA MAGAZINE
NOMAD is back, this time in Capri: the 14th Edition of the travelling art and design fair will see an impeccably curated selection of works displayed in Capri's oldest monastery, the 14th century Certosa di San Giacomo. Sara Pierdona reports.
BY SARA PIERDONA | HAPPENINGS | 5 JULY 2024
Nomad, the travelling art fair, comes to the island of Capri 4-7 July 2024
"Capri is, of course, the island of goats" – so began a fascinating description by Bruce Chatwin of the life of this strange and evocative place that has passed through various and contradictory identities, even far removed from its original etymology.
When the writer visited, Capri was no longer just a land suitable for pastoralism, but had been the residence of a Roman emperor, then the destination of intellectuals and aesthetes inclined to hermitages, and after that the postcard-perfect setting chosen by the jet set for their annual summer holidays.
Today, thanks to NOMAD, the travelling art and design fair, Capri - and the 14th-century monastery Certosa di San Giacomo in particular - is also a destination for contemporary art. Founded in 2017, NOMAD emphasises the convergence between art and architecture by hosting fairs in unexpected and spectacular locations.
Following Cabana's collaboration as media partner at the winter edition in St Moritz, the fair pops up from 4 to 7 July on Italy's most exclusive island, bringing together nine internationally renowned galleries called upon to reflect on the themes of site specificity and cultural heritage.
Like every edition, the program also includes extra activities, including talks with curators, architects, and leading figures in the sector. In the Ferragamo boutique, guests can visit the installation by Julian Opie, whose work focuses on the themes of perception and how experiences are conveyed by various media. Two works will be on display: Tina Walking and Kiri, the first dated 2011 and belonging to an iconic series by the artist, the second from 2019, part of a sculptural group where the silhouettes attempt through movement to break the static nature of matter.
Wolfgang Laib’s City of Silence in the Certosa’s church.
The Diefenbach Museum, a fascinating venue due to the austerity of the space and the visual power it accords to the works on display, for the first time welcomes the work of another artist - and none other than the immense Kiefer (celebrated at the same time in Florence by a major exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi).
The dialogue between white walls and the concept of absence or destruction in Kiefer's thinking is intense, creating a dazzling visual contrast, by Lia Rumma.
Lucio Fontana, Crocifisso (Crucifixion), 1950–51, Painted and glazed terracotta. Courtesy Robilant+Voena.
Robilant + Voena, on the other hand, propose an unusual selection of ceramics by Fontana where the religious subject is revisited in a nonchalant and revolutionary key, but keeping in mind the Baroque that the artist admired and believed capable of evoking the spirituality of the divine.
Lastly, at the Grand Hotel Quisisana, a single show of Andy Warhol's photographs provides a condensation of the iconoclastic Capri aesthetic, with shots of Valentino and Jacqueline Onassis at ease in front of the lens - and around the photographs, rare pieces of design lent by the world of collecting.
