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Tra neuroplasticità, memoria ed emozione, l’intelligenza umana resta un territorio non replicabile: così il cervello diventa l’ultimo archivio vivente e creativo
ISSUE NO. 31
Formerly known as Art Aspen, Intersect Aspen is a contemporary art and design fair held annually since 2020 and created by brothers Tim and Dirk von Gal. As its name suggests, the boutique fair takes place in the American ski destination of Aspen. Here, amid the mountains of Colorado, art lovers, collectors, gallerists, and artists gather.
Aspen isn’t just known for its ski slopes. Formerly, this silver mining town was discovered in the 1940s by philanthropist Elizabeth Paepcke and her husband Walter during a skiing expedition. They saw potential in this almost abandoned town and decided to revive it. In 1949, they founded the Aspen Music Festival and School, as well as the Aspen Institute.
These premises transformed the ski town into a destination of high-minded profusion. Artists and intellectuals began to build the cultural reputation Aspen enjoys today. In the 1980s, wealthy vacationers choose Aspen as their second home and built their properties. Today, Aspen is well known for the Aspen Art Museum, its Film Festival, and its numerous art galleries. Over time, a community devoted to art has developed in this town. This is one of the reasons why Intersect Aspen decided to settle here.
The contemporary art fair takes place this year during the first week of August, one of the busiest of the season. The average population of Aspen during this period is 27,000.
«This town has always had a very active arts community. We think it’s a great place to celebrate art in all its forms».
According to Becca Hoffman, Managing Director of Intersect Aspen, the event aims to build community and connectivity at each edition of the fair. Through its cultural partners, programming and curatorial vision, Intersect offers opportunities for dialogue and engagement among the event’s participants.
Intersect also organizes a contemporary art fair based in Palm Springs, California. According to Becca Hoffman, Intersect Palm Springs relies as much as Intersect Aspen on community and the links that can be forged between artists, gallerists, and collectors.
«There’s a difference between Aspen and Palm Springs: firstly, the setting isn’t the same, Palm Springs is in the desert and Aspen is in the heart of the mountains. This impacts on the participants’ visions. I think the sunny California influences the work presented in Palm Springs. In this edition of Intersect Palm Springs, which took place this February, we saw a concentration on the theme of color in the works exhibited. We also saw a focus on the work of women artists, the way they approach art and creation».
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For its third face-to-face edition, Intersect returns to its preferred venue, the Aspen Ice Garden. According to Becca Hoffman, this year thirty-one galleries from twenty-seven international cities will be exhibiting. Of these, more than a dozen are new.
«This year’s Fair boasts over ten new galleries who promise to offer dynamic discoveries. In addition, we are pleased to welcome back twenty returning contemporary and modern art exhibitors who have made early August in the mountains their go-to» she explains.
Every year, the fair offers partnerships with not-for-profit associations and cultural organizations. These include Anderson Ranch Arts Center, the Red Brick Art Center for the Arts and Aspen Film, to name a few.
For this 2023 edition, a series of activities have been designed to help visitors discover the city of Aspen, in an interaction with the local territory.
The ‘Collectors at Home’ concept for VIP collectors is also back. Since the 2021 edition, Intersect Aspen has collaborated with a number of Aspen-based collectors. They open the doors of their homes to the fair’s VIP public. The aim of this concept is to create encounters and give the possibility to of a more intimate perspective to the way art is presented. «We want people to be able to meet and get to know the artists who created the art they acquire. We are here to create links between the actors of this art fair».
Other highlights of this next edition are the panel discussions led by Josh Baer, the creator of the newsletter The Baer Faxt. This newsletter is the informative reference on the contemporary art market since 1994 for the industry insiders worldwide.
Becca Hoffman is sure that this year’s edition is going to be artistically rich. To name a few, Hoffman thinks of artists like Petra Cortright, represented by the gallery, C O U N T Y. The artist combines classic and new digital techniques, such as Photoshop, to create her works.
«Other artists that come to mind are JJ Manford, represented by Derek Eller Gallery and Harper’s Gallery. Danielle Orchard is also an artist to follow. She works on the female bodies, to which she is attached, in a way reminiscent of cubism. Finally, I think of Nikki Maloof who transports us in her colorful and graphic universe. These two artists are represented by Perrotin», she adds.
Over the four days of the event, the art institutions collaborating with the fair will set up activities and conferences to enable the public to meet the artists. «We’re offering our guests the opportunity to discover all the most artistic aspects Aspen has to offer. For our VIPs, for example, we’ll be offering a tour of the Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies, film screenings in partnership with Aspen Film, a Midsummer Celebration at the Red Brick Centre of the Arts, an event for which we’re also collaborating with the Aspen Chamber Resort Association. Visitors will enjoy theater, live music and more».
The city Aspen encompasses several venues dedicated to art, for which it is known for.
Anderson Ranch Arts Center continues its collaboration with Intersect Aspen. Located outside the ski destination, this cultural center is dedicated to meeting and community. There workshops, exhibitions, vernissages, and conferences dedicated to art take place.
Intersect Aspen will host an afternoon tea on the campus of this institution. VIPs will be able to visit this creative space located in the Snowmass Village. Visitors will learn more about how this place has become one of the country’s most respected visual arts centers.
Aspen Film and Aspen Film Isis Theatre is also an active contributor to Intersect Aspen. Established in 1979, during the last forty-four years the aim of the institution has been to bring cinema, dialogue, and community engagement to the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado.
In collaboration with Aspen Film Isis Theatre, films created by The Artist Profile Archive will be presented. This multimedia platform offering documentaries about contemporary artists will be collaborating with Intersect Aspen with ‘The Use of Photography and Representations of the Self’, a series of short documentaries dedicated to artists Sheree Hovsepian and Letha Wilson. The screenings will be followed by a conversation with the artists, moderated by Sophie Chahinian, founder of The Artist Profile Archive.
Becca Hoffman and the Intersect Aspen team aim at continuing to create strong links between artists, gallerists and collectors. The keyword of the art fair will always be community, by focusing on collaborations with not-for-profit organizations.
Intersect Aspen is an annual art and culture event taking place each August in the mountain destination in Colorado. Formerly known as Art Aspen, it has been running since 2010. The 2023 edition will take place from August 1 to August 4 at the Aspen Ice Garden (233 W Hyman Ave. Aspen, CO 81611).
ISSUE NO. 31
Lampoon is a cultural magazine.
Culture today means sustainability – in its honest meaning.
Culture has always been about human respect, tolerance. It’s not only about accepting human diversity but it’s about searching for the beauty of every human peculiarity.
Inclusion is the first value that defines art. Culture today means one thing only: to be part of a community, to think as a community.
Reading Lampoon, you see that these themes are smoothly aligned. A good part of the articles’ content discusses practices to restore our environment and stories about understanding the others.
Reading Lampoon, you find a dialogue between science and creativity. From sharp and edgy photo sessions to fashion, architecture, technology – the commitment is dedicated to a future that is all about us – together.
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