The Antonio Dalle Nogare Foundation

The Antonio Dalle Nogare Foundation was established to promote contemporary art as a language for interpreting changes in society, as a tool for promoting interaction between art, architecture, innovation and artistic research and as a means of bringing an increasingly wider public closer to the contemporary art.

Architecture

In the building that hosts the Foundation, art and architecture come together to create an evocative place. The geographical position, the lush natural context combined with the choice of materials and the intervention of international artists, make it unique.

The project is by the architect Walter Angonese, with the help of his colleague Andrea Marastoni; together, they shape into reality the idea of the client. Their vision was to create a building in which the museum and the domestic dimension could coexist, so that visitors would feel welcomed. The rock was excavated to make space for the rooms that became exhibition halls, offices and library, together with the spaces for private use. The porphyry extracted from the mountain was grinded, worked so that it returned, modified, to its original location, in the form of concrete.

Tombak, raw oak wood and large windows completed the building giving it a contemporary yet warm character. The exhibition rooms were designed as large open spaces, where works of art of any shape and size find the right place to breathe.

Artists called upon to create site-specific works participate in its construction, such as the Americans Robert Barry – who designed a huge lettering for the library’s windows – and Dan Graham, who designed a large pavilion for the Foundation's garden.

This architecture thus became a meeting place for anyone interested in contemporary art.

Antonio Dalle Nogare

Antonio Dalle Nogare, builder, collector and founder of the Foundation of the same name, approaches contemporary art in his early twenties. His private collection was born in the mid-eighties and at the heart of it there is his passion for conceptual and minimal art, with works by the masters of the second half of the 20th century – Carl Andre, Robert Barry, Günther Förg, Dan Graham, On Kawara, Martin Kippenberger, Joseph Kosuth, Richard Long, Piero Manzoni, Olivier Mosset, Blinky Palermo, Richard Long, James Turrell among others – as well as the protagonists of Arte Povera – Giovanni Anselmo, Luciano Fabro, Jannis Kounellis, Giuseppe Penone and others. He is equally attracted to the artworks of young post-conceptual artists that are continuously added to this fundamental core.

As a place to share his passion for art, Dalle Nogare initiated the construction of the museum that opened in Bolzano in 2011. Since 2018, the building is home to the foundation, first under the artistic direction of Vincenzo de Bellis, and from 2022 of Andrea Viliani. The curatorship of Dalle Nogare’s private collection is by Eva Brioschi.

Foundation's Site-Specific Works

Dan Graham

One of the main exhibits in the Antonio Dalle Nogare Foundation house-museum is the site-specific installation by the American artist Dan Graham. The work is a pavilion built of reflective glass and stainless steel and is now located in the garden of the Foundation. Due to its reflective sides, it changes continuously according to the light, weather conditions and the position of the visitor.

The work's close contact with its natural surroundings and architectural setting, all help to make the "Pavilion" experience even more meaningful.

Dan Graham has been analysing the relationships between architectural environments and their inhabitants for over fifty years with diversified conceptual art practices that include installations, performances, videos, photographs and books. Starting in the 1970s he has focused on building architectural pavilions from transparent or mirrored glass that he has installed all over the world and now feature in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Metropolitan Museum (New York), the Dia Art Foundation (New York) and many other institutions too.

Robert Barry

The Antonio Dalle Nogare Foundation is home to the site-specific installation "Beyond, Instead, Possible..." by the American artist Robert Barry. The work was made for the library windows in 2012, following two visits to the museum by the artist and his agent, Massimo Minini, while it was still being built.

Robert Barry is one of the founders of American conceptual art. The artist uses a vocabulary of about 200 words to create installations on walls, canvases, windows, projections, or sculptures. The selection of the words is based on the specific location, context or situation the work has been created for.

The "Beyond, Instead, Possible..." installation is the result of a direct discussion between Antonio Dalle Nogare and Robert Barry and is markedly affected by the natural environment that surrounds the building. Light and nature alter the work hour by hour, so it appears to be continually evolving.

Visit Information

The visit to the Foundation is possible without reservation on Saturday from 9.30 AM to 7.30 PM, with a free guided tour at 11 AM. From Tuesday to Friday the Foundation can be visited upon reservation by writing to visit@fondazioneantoniodallenogare.com or calling +39 0471 971 626.