YICCA International Contest of Contemporary arrived in Rome and opened its exhibition at the Museo Fondazione Crocetti on Saturday, November 18, 2017, on display until 29 November 2017 by Massimo Toffolo and Margherita Jedrzejewska.
Yicca is a great international contemporary art competition, open to emerging artists. Among the works on display are all kinds of works of art such as video or installations are accepted. The aim of the competition is to promote the enrolled artists, giving them the opportunity to join the international contemporary art market. For the first time in Rome, several internationally renowned jury artists have been selected, including: Giulia Manfredi (Italy), Balate Cécile (Belgium), Suresh Babu Maddilety (India), Maryam Moghadam (Iran), Matthew Portch (Australia), Andrew Leventis (United States) Giacomo Layet (Italy), Maria Węgrzyniak-Szczepkowska (Poland), Kevin Frech (United States), Bianca Giacomelli (Italy), Anne Cecile Surga (France) Alfredo Dante Vallesi (Italy), Lilac Abramsky-Arazi (Israel) Sayaka Suzuki (United States), Albert Alcol Costa (Spain), Valentina De Rosa (Italy), Marek Slavík (Czech Republic), Peter Riss (Germany).
Interview with italian founder and curator Massimo Toffolo:
1- How is Yicca born? And your path tells us?
Yicca was born in September 2009 from the connection between contemporary design and contemporary art, from a bond that both me and my wife Margherita have matured in the years. My experience as an artist and Margherita’s skills in cultural heritage have united when we began to admire young Italian artists. The jump was short and fast. Gradually, as the experience increased, the number of artists and works that each month passed in front of our eyes became more and more higher. After more than 8 years of contests, openings, and of artists known personally, I can certainly assert that the world of emerging contemporary art is part of our daily life.
2- What were the initial difficulties of the International Art Competition?
Italian slowness and bureaucracy did not allow us to bite off more than you can chew. And maybe that was good at first. Trying to do much with little and without governmental and / or institutional economic aid, has forced us to seek synergies and collaborations with many private realities like ours; moreover, to organize the final events in person and prepare independently the press material and much more, has totally immersed us in the work, making us really understand what are the strengths and weaknesses of each competition, such as the exact requirements for the final events and the possible developments from year to year.
3- What course does the competition take?
After many years, we have seen the internationality of the contests increasing considerably, with interest and participation from several different countries. I think this is a major positive aspect, and ideally, YICCA is deciding independently of its persistence, moving more and more not in the middle of Europe but in the middle of the world. Therefore, we are creating an international “appeal” for YICCA by exploiting the very contemporary cut that have the works that appear in our contest.
4- How does the first choice of works take place?
The selection of finalists participating in the YICCA exhibitions is made up of a pool of jurors. They are curators, critics or journalists and are chosen for their proven curatorial experience in the field of contemporary art. Each edition, we select different jurors to give a breath of fresh air to the contest and to allow the selections to take various directions according to the different sensitivities of individual jurors.
5- Are Excellencies of European Art Existing?
Yes, over the years we have had the pleasure of meeting, among many selected artists, some with a wealth of experience already considerable. Even though each year the stem rises a bit more, many of the emerging artists who are selected and who are at the earliest experience, demonstrate a remarkable talent and artistic intuition that proves that there is still a lot to be discovered.
6- What Do You Think of Contemporary Art in Italy for Foreign Relations?
Thousands of Italian and international works pass before our eyes and with pleasure I can say that Italian artists are keeping pace with the movements and the quality that emerge abroad.
7- How High Technology Affects Art Today?
It may seem that technology influences much contemporary art. It’s just an illusion. The work needs to have within that divine spark that transforms it into work of art.Whether it’s a conceptual works, performances, digital art, video installations up to the now overcome Cybernetic works, which some years ago made a splash at the Ars Electronica Prize of Linz, all have the same problem of a painting or of a sculpture: it really is a ‘quality work’?
8- His experience with young artists?
I find that emerging art has the charm of all things not yet contaminated. Sometimes I look at the work of a still unknown artist praying to myself that over the years the artist won’t dream of changing his style and losing the verve. Often it happens that after initial experimentation, a source of so much originality, artistic research falls into the ready made, just for not having had the real achievements and awards. What a pity..
9- Future Projects of Yicca?
YICCA is in effect a work in progress. However, we tend to schedule a minimum of two years’ activity between final venues for exhibitions, collaborations with art professionals and contests programming. We also want to increase the possibilities for artists at every edition. At the next edition, for example, two artistic residences will be introduced as a final prize, and will be added to the already available cash prizes.
10- Do you think that Art is undergoing major changes today?
Art evolves, follows and predicts, at the same time, social movements. It’s natural that it changes, that it finds new possibilities and new talented interpreters. What does not change is the measure of art: the quality of the works. If you ask me if it is possible to measure the quality of a work somehow, I can answer yes. Quality is in the concept, in its originality, in the method of implementation, and finally in its final presentation. All of these variables make a work better than another.
11- What would you like to do in the future?
We are working to create an artistic index dedicated to emerging international artists. I find that trends, artists’ movements and their work are important and worthy of having an official quotation even if they have not yet been passed for the first auctions.
12- What’s behind the Corner?
Milan is waiting for us next May 2018. A new and exciting adventure that will see the final exhibition in the Hernandez Art Gallery spaces in the city of the trends.
YICCA Art contest – International competition for artists
YICCA is an international call for artists, open to professionals and not only from any country in the world. All kinds of contemporary artworks are allowed in the art contest: drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs, graphics, mix media, video, installations and performances. The competition’s aim is to promote the enrolled artist, giving them chance to join the international market of contemporary art. Internationality and networking make this art call a huge opportunity for the artists, which can win a cash prize and have the opportunity to exhibit the submitted works in an art gallery of a European city. Jury’s final decision will lead to a selection of 18 artists that will participate in the final exhibition.
On Exhibition from 18-29 November 2017 at
Museum Foundation Crocetti
Via Cassia 492 – Rome – Italy
info tel: +39 0633711468
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“YICCA 2017”
Selected artworks of the 18 artists that will be exposed in Rome in the spaces of the Museo Fondazione Crocetti.
The curators:
Massimo Toffolo (main curator of Yicca, Italy)
Margherita Jedrzejewska (curator of Yicca, Italy/Poland)
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Info +39 0432.1840674
She is an independent curator, art advisor and international marketing management consultant. For more than 20 years, he has been a cultural designer of events related to contemporary art with particular attention to unusual spaces and interactions with other arts.