Giuseppe Abate’s “Piroette,” masterfully crafted by the expert weaver Giovanni Bonotto, is now on display at Museo Fortuny in Venice, Italy. This tapestry, originally intended for the collection of the Museo di Palazzo Mocenigo, was created as part of A Collection Aps’s artist residency project. Bonotto employed traditional textile craftsmanship techniques to create this horizontal-format tapestry, which depicts various species of game animals at the moment they are struck by a bullet. Abate’s iconographic research draws from the tradition of weaving scenes of hunting or still lifes, and he arranged the subjects in a manner characteristic of his visual language. The tapestry features both realistic and fantastical creatures, woven using threads of varying materials and colors.
“Piroette” has thus been incorporated into the civic collections as the winning project of the PAC 2022-2023 Piano per l’Arte Contemporanea – MiC. Currently displayed on the second floor of Museo Fortuny, the tapestry interacts with the evocative settings of Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo’s studios. These settings are dedicated to showcasing the ingenuity, skills, and experimental endeavors of the Spanish artist, encompassing everything from engraving to photography, theater, lighting techniques, and his renowned and unique fabric creations.
Giuseppe Abate, born in Bari in 1987, earned an MA in Material Futures from Central St Martins College in London, UK, in 2020, following a degree in Painting from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia in 2012. His work has been exhibited in numerous prestigious institutions and galleries, including Somerset House in London, UK (2021), Spazio Cabinet_Studiolo in Milan, Italy (2020), the first online show of Dutch Design Week (2020), ADA Project in Rome, Italy (2019), Palazzo Barolo Artissima in Turin, Italy (2019), Palazzo Mocenigo in Venice, Italy (2018), Assam State Museum in Guwahati, India (2017), Museo Nazionale della Montagna in Turin, Italy (2016), and Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in Venice, Italy (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015). Additionally, he has been showcased at Rob Pruitt Flea Market at Galleria A + A in Venice, Italy (2015), Studio d’Arte Cannaviello in Milan, Italy (2013), Museo di Arte Contemporanea Pino Pascali in Bari, Italy (2012), and Galleria Municipale d’Arte Contemporanea di Monfalcone in Monfalcone, Italy (2011).
In 2014, Abate was selected for the residency program of Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in Venice, Italy. From 2016 to 2017, he participated in the residency program promoted by Microclima, Guwahati Research Program in Assam, India. In 2018, he was a finalist for the Premio Cairo in Milan, Italy. He was also the winner of the graphic project for Vinitaly, Artissima, and Regione Piemonte in Verona, Italy in 2017.
