L'arte e la città / Art and the city

L’ARTE E LA CITTÀ / ART AND THE CITY is an original exhibition with dozens of works selected from the museum’s collections and complemented by rare archive material, which opens in conjunction with the inauguration of the URBAN CENTER at the Centro Pecci in Prato on 20 November 2021.

Conceived as a direct expression of the city of Prato, where the Centro Pecci was established and is based, but also to reflect a metropolitan context undergoing constant renovation and expansion, in the area between Florence, Prato and Pistoia where the Centro Pecci is located and operates, this new exhibition presents an unexplored overview of the relationships between contemporary art and the urban environment.

The exhibition is divided into three adjoining sections inside the large wing of the Centro Pecci which extends onto and overlooks Viale della Repubblica: first, various aspects of the city explored and interpreted by a variety of contemporary artists; next, the art produced in recent decades that makes reference to or is integrated with the urban context; and lastly, contemporary art in Prato and in the setting of the Centro Pecci.

Paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs and videos, together with drawings, prints and archive material by around forty Italian and international artists and groups gathered in the collections and documented in various archives of the Centro Pecci, explore topical issues such as the transformations, transfigurations and utopias of the city, the conflicts and the rises and falls that develop within it, as well as the encounters and exchanges, scenarios and subjects of the urban environment; lastly, the main artistic works conceived and created for Prato, which sees the Centro Pecci as a cultural and identity reference point and which for half a century has played the role of a city dedicated to the development and collection of contemporary arts.

The exhibition starts and finishes with a number of works specifically “made in Prato” to reiterate the centrality and influence of contemporary artistic research in this city which through the Centro Pecci represents the present and future of a region as rich and proud of its history as Tuscany. 

The decision to exhibit only works from the collections and archive materials reflects the wish to enhance the vast and ever-expanding assets collected, in order to emphasize the potential, flexibility and sustainability of the projects realised with materials acquired and conserved at the Centro Pecci from 1988 to today.

New educational programmes aimed at the public will be launched during the opening of the exhibition, along with cinema reviews and in-depth encounters; connections with cultural works and initiatives in the city and links with the productive activities in the territory will be encouraged.