Davide Quadrio

As the founder and curator of the first ever not-for-profit independent creative lab in Shanghai, Bizart Art Center, since 1998, China-based Italian producer and curator Davide Quadrio has created a name for himself in the contemporary art scene both in Shanghai and abroad. In 2007 he created Arthub Asia, which continues to work as a production and curatorial proxy active not only in Asia but also worldwide. Currently working as a curator for the Aurora Museum, Shanghai and hosted by the Shanghai Visual Art Institute, Quadrio continues to foster Shanghai’s contemporary art world with plans, assisted by ongoing collaborations with Arthub the Museum, to open a new contemporary art wing in 2016.

It is rare to find a western mind so invested in the art world and so shaped by the culture and history China is rich with. Producing exhibitions of high quality taste and full of emotions, Quadrio represents a leader of a growing minority of western art lovers devoting their lives to building China’s growing contemporary art world.

1.How would you describe your lifestyle and how does it impact your work?

I am a man of action. My life is all about moving things, ideas, people. Then my resting place is my family, my wife and daughters, and this life is private, magical, protected. Working in art is such a social thing, it is all about relationships, sociality. My private life is another one though, very secluded and very protected.

2.What drew you to a career in the art world?

I was in art since the age of nine, theatre, public art projects. I was painting on walls of the village I grew up, then I got completely fascinated by Asian art. At age 16, I was reading on Indian art and Buddhist art especially from Tibet. Then I studied Chinese and moved to China. In 1998, I began the project BizArt which then was nested in the year 2000 in Huaihai West Road and then in M50. Art at that time was a form of resistance and of exploration. It was a life changing experience. And indeed it changed my life altogether. In year 2007 with Defne Ayas we open the curatorial platform Arthub, that is now active globally making art productions and creating critical content.

3.What first brought you to China?

As I said, my study, and I graduated in Ca Foscari University, Venice.

4.Do you think the culture, history or society of China has influenced your work since you got here? If so, How?

Absolutely! In so many ways! First I invented my work in China! I was not trained in art and art management in the West. I responded to Shanghai’s environment and adapt to it consequentially. Many of my friends when introducing me, they say that I am a Shanghainese who speaks very good Italian among the other languages I speak (English, French and of course Chinese).

5.Of all the projects, artists and exhibition you have worked on/with throughout your career, is there on that sticks out in your memory as especially inspiring or thought provoking?

There are two: one is the city pavilion project for Shanghai Biennale 2013! That was an amazing project bringing 38 cities in Shanghai in public venue! It was epic. The second and third projects are actually happening now: Nobody knows where curated with Yeh Shaway, Chrystopher Doyle and Zhang Enli at Aurora Museum. A production that links a filmmaker with a painter creating a lexicon which is both unexpected is so naturally achieved. The third is the exhibition Cross-over curated with Francesca Girelli, an exhibition that was in my heart for so many years and that is a gift from me to Shanghai: an exhibition that brings moving images into filmic experiences, an odyssey and a poetic interpretation of history and its human remains with John Akhomfra, Eric Bodelaire, Thomas Sauvin, Yto Barrada, Joao Penalva and Ho Tzu Nyen.

6.What are your plans for the future, both personally and professionally?

I am opening the first exhibition on Chinese painting interpreting the act of painting in China, contemporary art as a profound different gesture: painting in China is anthropologically different. The show will be at Pac, pavilion of contemporary art in Milan with a special project I commissioned at Milan airport with Wang Gongxin, supported by Fidenza Village, Value Retail and Aurora Museum together with SEA and Milan Municipality. The exhibition will be open from 8th of July to 6th of September 2015. After that opening I will rest a month. I deserve it. In my house in central Italy, a place to think, rest and share with my closest friends and family. A place for the art of love that, at the end, it is what I value most!

ⒸYiZhouStudio

1998年，意大利策展人乐大豆先生在上海创建第一家非营利独立创意空间“比翼艺术中心”，随后他开始在上海乃至亚洲的当代艺术圈内打响名声。2007年，乐大豆先生建立“Arthub亚洲”，作为制作人及策展人，他的艺术脚步从亚洲迈向了世界。目前，乐大豆先生在上海震旦博物馆担任策展人，并任教于上海视觉艺术学院，他将在全力支持上海当代艺术的发展，并与Arthub合作，在2016年打造全新当代艺术展览。

很难找到一个像乐大豆这样的西方人，既如此沉浸于艺术的世界，又被中国的历史文化影响这么深。乐大豆举办的展览高质量、高品位，又满怀情感，他已然成为少数西方艺术爱好者中的引领者，为中国当代艺术的发展尽心尽力。

1.你会怎样来描述自己的生活风格呢，这种风格是怎样影响你的作品的呢？

我是一个实干家。我的生活全部是关于移动的事物，想法和人。我的安息之所就是我的家庭，我的妻子和女儿，而且这种生活是私人的，有魔力的和受保护的。在艺术领域工作是一个十分社会化的事情，全部都是关系和社会。而我的生活是另外一种，非常隐蔽的和非常受保护的。

2.那又是什么把你拽进了艺术世界的职业生涯的呢？


我从九岁就开始接触艺术，当时是剧院，公众艺术项目。我在村子的墙上画画，当我长大了我就被亚洲艺术给深深地迷住了，十六岁时我在研读印度艺术和佛教艺术，尤其是藏传佛教。然后我学了汉语并搬到了中国。1998年我开始了BizArt项目，然后2000年在淮海西路安顿了下来，后来又在M50安了家。艺术在当时是一种抵抗和探索。那真是一段改变人生的经历。而且确实它也整个地改变了我的人生。在2007年，我和Defne Ayas一起开设了评论员平台“Arthub”，现在活跃在全球范围内制作艺术作品和创作评论性文章。

3.那么是什么第一次把你带到了中国的呢？

就像我说的，是我的研究领域。我毕业于威尼斯东方大学。

4.你认为从你自身来到这里开始，中国的文化，历史和社会影响到你的作品了吗？如果是这样，那是怎样影响的呢？

绝对有影响！从各个方面！我是在中国第一次创作了我的作品！我不是在西方接受的艺术和艺术管理的训练。我响应了上海的环境并自然而然地适应了它。许多我的朋友在介绍我时都会说，我是一个在所有我会说的语言当中，意大利语说得最好的上海人。（我会说英语，法语当然还有汉语）

5.贯览你的整个职业生涯，在所有你经历过的项目，艺术家和展览当中，有哪些作品是作为特别的灵感和想法而突显出你的记忆的呢？

有两个：一个是2013年上海双年展的城市亭阁项目，那是一个神奇的项目，38个城市被带到了上海的一个公众会场上，那是一段史诗。第二个和第三个项目实际上正在发生：没有人知道我和叶晓薇，杜可风和张恩利会在震旦博物馆策划出些什么。这是一个用一位画家链接一位制片人的作品，创造出一个既出人意料又水到渠成的词汇。第三个是我和弗兰西斯卡· 吉尔瑞丽合作策展的展览《擦肩而过》，是一个我心骛多年，并且想把它作为一个礼物赠给上海的作品：一个把移动的图像带入电影体验的展览，一个对历史和历史所留存下来的人类以及约翰·阿克木弗雷，埃里克·波德莱尔，托马斯·苏文，伊图·巴拉达，乔·潘纳尔瓦和何子彦所进行的奥德赛式和诗意般解读的展览。

6.你的未来计划是什么，从个人和职业方面来讲？

我正在举办第一个有关中国绘画的展览，将会把深刻的中国当代绘画艺术精髓传递给大家：绘画在中国有着人类学上的不同。这个展览会在米兰当代艺术厅举办，同时举办的还有我和王功新的一个特殊项目，由米兰机场委托，费登扎购物村，唯泰集团，震旦博物馆，SEA和米兰市政府合力支持。这个展览会从2015年7月8日开幕到9月6日结束。展览开幕之后我会在我的意大利中部的家里休息一个月，这是我应得的。这个家是我用来思考，休息和与最亲近的朋友和家人分享的一个地方，一个我最为珍贵的，属于爱的艺术的地方。