The Marca Corona for Art initiative fosters collaborations between the namesake ceramics brand and artists, to drive innovation at the cross of creativity and commerce.
The oldest company in Italy’s famed Sassuolo ceramics district, Marca Corona – established in 1741 – has a long history of working with craftsmen and creatives. With Marca Corona for Art, its team is continuing that tradition with a contemporary perspective, joining forces with artists to interpret commercial identity concepts and further innovation in the ceramics industry. The project builds upon the programme at Galleria Marca Corona, the only Italian company museum dedicated to the history of the Sassuolo ceramic district.
With a strong relationship to the world of contemporary art from its origins, the museum (a recent member of the national Museimpresa association) launched the Marca Corona for Art project and the Marca Corona Prize for artists under 35. Artists Giuseppe Stampone and Stefano Arienti have collaborated with Marca Corona for the first two iterations of Marca Corona for Art. With the identity project, creatives are enlisted for research, sharing their imagination and expertise to conceive new possibilities and start a dialogue between the company, its employees and the wider ceramics industry. Contemporary art events, architecture conferences and workshops take these conversations even further, involving the public at the sweet spot of creativity and commerce.
Cover and above: Stefano Arienti and Marca Corona's exhibition Opera Aperta explores the relationship between experimental tradition and contemporaneity.
The Abecedario d'artista project saw artist Giuseppe Stampone work with Marca Corona's employees to identify a graphic brand language.
The potential in these collaborations was first embodied by the inaugural project, Abecedario d'artista, or ‘Artist’s Spelling Book’, a series of 21 works by Stampone. In 2022 he worked with Marca Corona’s 200+ employees to identify images for letters A-Z that best represented the company. Dubbing this participatory process ‘Global Education’, the artist explains that the aim was to ‘recreate a new literacy not given and created by a few for the many (the Western dictatorship of Gutenberg's typeface) but re-created through the active participation of people; in other words, a shared alphabet.’ Speaking on today’s foremost political and social themes, the resulting graphic works – completed in blue ballpoint pen – were presented in the exhibition Nel Blu dipinto, between Galleria Marca Corona and the company's showroom spaces.
Opera Aperta, Stefano Arienti’s 2023 continuation of Marca Corona for Art, challenges conceptions of the boundaries between seemingly distant worlds – notably those of culture and commerce. Inspired by the mind of writer Umberto Eco, Opera Aperta comprises a display of iconic pieces by Arienti – like Turbine, Formelle, Alghe and Meridiane. Unveiled on 4 October, the overarching exhibition, titled Open Work, is a similarly participatory platform to explore the relationship between experimental tradition and contemporaneity, one true to Marca Corona’s philosophy and practice.
‘I worked on the works created specifically for Marca Corona's spaces as I would have in the privacy of my studio,’ says Arienti. ‘During the participatory assemblies with employees, I kept people informed about all stages of the design process. The reference to the “Open Work” also lies in this collective process. It's a company immersed in contemporaneity, so it's a perfect place to imagine a true museum project.’
Following the same vein of 'Open Work', the second edition of the Marca Corona Prize prompts artists under 35 to raise interpretations synthesizing Marca Corona's entrepreneurial history and the district's industrial tradition, drawing parallels with the artistic universe. Registrations are open until 7 January 2024, with submissions to be judged by a jury of experts from art and business. Winners will be announced at the Arte Fiera 2024 in Bologna.
