Cutting-edge art show has UK premier in Liverpool
A cutting-edge multi-media art show celebrating the work of one of the 20th century’s greatest painters will open for the first time in the UK in Liverpool on June 24th. Modigliani Opera is an immersive multi-media show incorporating 180 degree cinema, 4k video screens and virtual reality to explore the work and life of the Italian master, Amedeo Modigliani. The Modigliani Opera exhibition which will run from June 24th until the end of September will be hosted in a specially adapted gallery space at 26 Bold Street in the heart of Liverpool City Centre. The internationally acclaimed show has recently toured major cities in Italy, and it is the centerpiece of a programme of art events and exhibitions being promoted by the Fondazione Amedeo Modigliani in the city this summer. The Fondazione aims to promote the work and celebrate the important influence of Modigliani, as well as support and promote the work of emerging contemporary painters internationally.
Amedeo Modigliani was born into a Sephardic Jewish family in the northern Italian port city of Livorno in July 1884. His life was blighted by a succession of serious illnesses including pleurisy, typhoid fever and tuberculosis. He travelled extensively during his childhood and youth, with his art-loving mother taking him to visit the great cultural centres of Rome, Venice and Florence where his passion for painting was inspired and nurtured. Moving to Paris in his early 20’s, he became part of the burgeoning Modernist movement forming close friendships with leading painters and writers including Pablo Picasso, Max Jacob and Jean Cocteau. Modigliani developed a highly distinctive visual style with his portraits and nudes immediately recognizable with their elongated necks and angular features. The painter achieved some critical recognition during his life, which ended tragically at the age of 35 when he died from tubercular meningitis. However, his reputation as a great artistic innovator soared after his death. He became the epitome of the tragic artist, creating a posthumous legend almost as well-known as that of Vincent Van Gogh.
Fondazione Modigliani Vice President, Sergio Bernardi said:
“We are delighted to be bringing this highly original and exciting show to Liverpool, a city with such a strong cultural reputation and association with the visual arts. This is the first time that cutting-edge immersive technology has been used to present the work of such an important artist in a way that gives an entirely new perspective on his work and his life.
The aim of the Modigliani Opera show is to go deeper, using immersive technology to get inside Modigliani’s imagination and find the source of his creative and emotional inspiration. His paintings are both immediately recognizable and deeply enigmatic. We know the work, but this is a chance to know and understand the man.”
The show’s promoters believe the exhibition will appeal beyond traditional art audiences with its immersive and interactive media helping to break down barriers and give people a richer and more accessible insight into the work of the modern master.
Sergio Bernardi added:
“Our aim is to combine education and entertainment, by providing an experience that is hugely informative and is also totally unique and memorable. We believe the show will have broad appeal to the whole public not just art-lovers. We are particularly keen to work with schools, and we see this as a great opportunity to engage young people in art and cutting-edge immersive technology. The critical and public response to the show in Europe has been fantastic, so we are really confident that people in Liverpool will appreciate something that is so different and original.”
The Liverpool programme will also include two contemporary art shows featuring painters from the UK and Europe at both the Bold Street gallery space and a major waterfront exhibition space opening in July.