The Michelangelo Foundation unveils Art Work, a new book dedicated to contemporary art restoration

Art Work offers rare insight into the world of restoring and conserving contemporary art
Published on the occasion of Homo Faber, the first major exhibition dedicated to European craftsmanship, the volume Art Work, translated into English from the Italian In Opera, celebrates the master artisans working in contemporary art restoration.

“It is commonly thought that the art produced in this day and age is still too recent to be subject to conservation problems and that, when they do arise, they are the same as those encountered in antique works of art”.

So begins Isabella Villafranca Soissons in her introduction to the book she has edited, Art Work: Conserving and restoring contemporary art, translated into English from the original Italian edition, In Opera, published by Marsilio Editori in 2015 thanks to a partnership between the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and Open Care – Servizi per l’arte. The director of conservation and restoration at Open Care, a Milan-based leader in the field of art restoration, Villafranca Soissons sets out with this fascinating volume to debunk that assumption, revealing the complex issues involved in contemporary art restoration, a profession that combines art and science and demands both creativity and vast knowledge.

Art Work brings together important voices in the world of art conservation through essays, interviews and case studies related to producing, living with and promoting diverse forms of contemporary art. The result is a rare glimpse of this fascinating yet little-known world, revealing the myriad issues that restorers must consider, be they legal, economic, scientific, cultural, social and philosophical, when attempting to conserve a work made with unconventional techniques and materials by an artist who may still be living. 

Readers will gain a real sense of what it takes to be a restorer of contemporary art and an appreciation of the true craftsmanship involved. At once doctor, detective, diagnostician, researcher and scientist, the restorer is above all an artisan, who must work with not only the head and the hands but also the heart.

Already published in Italian as In Opera, this new English edition was championed by the Michelangelo Foundation, a Geneva-based non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting and promoting craftsmanship and its link with design. The book was launched in September during Homo Faber, the Michelangelo Foundation’s first major event, at which master restorers from Open Care were showcased in the exhibit Restoring Art’s Masters.

 


Speaking about Art Work, Alberto Cavalli, the Co-Director of the Michelangelo Foundation, stressed the importance of translating the book into English so the secrets of this understated profession can reach an international audience.

“This is a very original work because it explores the complex issues of restoration and conservation of contemporary art in a very thoughtful and thought-provoking way but one which is very accessible. It speaks to us, it talks about the things that unite us,” he said.

“Our hope with the English edition is that it will be read widely and shared widely and that it should stimulate thinking and collaboration, and attract young people interested in this field around the world”.