The Italian patron Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo is joining forces with the New York-based New Museum on the New Futures project, which is focused on the production and exhibition of new works by a selection of international artists. The first artist commissioned is Italian-born Diego Marcon who made his mark at the 2022 Venice Biennale with the video work The Parents’ Room (2021).
“Collaborating with other institutions has always been a characteristic of my foundation,” says Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, who is the founder of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo. “Commissioning for us is important but it’s not only about financing, [it is about] realising the works and obviously showing them.
“When the idea of developing a joint project arose, it felt like a natural and fantastic opportunity to really align with the vision of my foundation, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.”
Marcon’s new work will be presented in a solo exhibition at the New Museum next year; afterwards it will be shown at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin.
“Art patrons were important 30 years ago and they're important now. When I established the foundation in 1995, there were not so many private foundations… collectors today understand that their role is obviously to buy work, but also to be much more involved in the commissioning of new productions,” says Sandretto Re Rebaudengo.
“Our first collaboration is a film work [by Marcon] that I really love because this was the first medium that I discovered when I started collecting,” she adds. The Turin opera orchestra contributed to the soundtrack on Marcon’s piece, further cementing the partnership.
Massimiliano Gioni, the artistic director at the New Museum, says: “[Patrizia’s] support and this partnership enables artists to make new works—that is the purpose of this collaboration because the New Museum is a non-collecting institution.” Sandretto Re Rebaudengo is also a member of the museum’s International Leadership Council, a group of global supporters and friends.
The new collaboration is timely as the New Museum is expanding, doubling its exhibition space with a seven-storey expansion project at its Lower East Side home. Designed by Rem Koolhaas and OMA’s Shohei Shigematsu, the 60,000 sq. ft addition will have spaces for public programming and artist residencies. An opening date is to be announced.
“When you're inside the new building it feels like one space, particularly in the exhibition spaces—they're connected on every floor. Specifically, Diego’s show will be in what we refer to as the south building, which is the OMA building,” Gioni says.
Crucially the New Futures initiative will continue. “It's a recurring, multi-year partnership. There is maximum flexibility regarding the medium or size, as such, of the commissions,” says Gioni. Sandretto Re Rebaudengo meanwhile plans to launch an art and ecology hub on the island of San Giacomo in Venice next year.
