A SHOW WITHIN A SHOW

A show within a show is a journey through the fascinating and little known world of art galleries.
In page after page we find out what an art gallery is, but in particular how an exhibition is prepared; who are the people who work there, who designs the spaces, who is an artist...
In page after page we also see the creation of a collective show of contemporary art: from the arrival of the crates containing the works, to the writing of the captions, to the arrangement of the lights to the welcoming of the critics.
A peek behind the scenes at the world of art... to get to know the enthralling work of those who bring art to life for the rest of us



A JOURNEY BEHIND THE SCENES OF AN ART EXIBITION

<<In the blue painted blue

Among the colours that flow, that separate, that boil up together, and then melt

Amid the waves of horns and the car bonnets.

There's someone who is looking for a bit of peace and quiet.>>

<<A little gallery of peace

Outside the enormous steel horses are unloading their cargoes.  
Inside thoughts are meowing, roaring, hissing.

Jaws are biting, teeth are crunching.

Hands touch, they measure, they scratch, they knock

Words are glued to the walls to the ceiling, to the floor

Words that make the heart swell like sails in the wind

“Painting is a blind man’s profession: one doesn’t paint what one sees, but what one feels” as Pablo Picasso said.>>

<<What will the public say?

“In art you can start right at the beginning. Even from a child’s bedroom” said Paul Klee

Who is going to start looking first?

The portrait or the spectator?

Who is now on exhibition?

 “Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth” Pablo Picasso said this as well>>

 THE CURATOR
 
- Can I have a couple of words with you? 
- Yes if it is only two, because I’m in a hurry. What do you take care of? 
- Are you joking, by any chance?  
- Absolutely not. 
- I look after shows and art exhibitions. I am like a director, I know the works of art, I know how they should be displayed in a gallery and I know what to do if they are damaged, so as well as a director, I am also an art doctor. When people talk about art, they can’t do anything without me, effectively, I’m indispensable. 
- Certainly, I understand. Yours is an important role. 
- Fundamental, I’d say, rather than important. Essential, I would say. I must leave you now, time’s up, and my time is precious, or rather, extremely precious.



VISITORS (mother and daughter) 
- Excuse me Madam, do you like this piece?
- It’s a little strange; in my opinion they’ve hung it upside down. 
- No, no it’s right like that, believe me.
- The colours are really beautiful but I don’t understand what the artist is trying to say. 
- Mummy, listen to me: that’s a sea that’s calming down after a storm even if it’s still raining and there’s a lot of splashing because a whale has just leapt up but now you can’t see it because it’s gone back under the water. Thank you my dear.>>

LARGE SCALE VOLUME IN SQUARE FORMAT 

THE AUTHORS

Cristina Quadrio Curzio, Leo Guerra: text
Respectively  the people responsible for the cultural section and the staging and set design of four important art galleries throughout the whole of Italy; a tark thet they have carried out together for over ten years.

Gek Tessaro: illustrations
He was born and lives in Verona: an art master, he is the author and illustrator of numerous childrens books and the winner of many prizes and awards, including the 2010 Andersen Prize for the Best Complete Author.

Paperback bound volume with paperboard cover • 64 pages • In 28,5 x 28,5 format • Age: from 6 years upwards

   

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