The Maramotti Collection is a private collection of contemporary art open to the public since 2007 in Reggio Emilia, presented in the spaces of a large brutalist building conceived in the 1950s as the original headquarters of Max Mara, one of the most well-known international fashion houses.
The founder of the company, Achille Maramotti, began his collection of contemporary art in the early 1960s, and in the following decades, the idea of sharing it with a public of enthusiasts took shape, free of charge and by reservation, to encourage a deep and personal visiting experience: few visitors at a time, a calm atmosphere, an individual, aesthetic, and intellectual engagement with the artworks.
The Permanent Collection
Over two hundred works are permanently displayed on the first and second floors of the Collection, from the late 1940s to 2017. The path reflects the collector’s exploration through numerous artistic movements that marked the second half of the twentieth century: from Informal art to Italian pop art, from Arte Povera to Transavanguardia, up to neo-expressionism and New Geometry. More than one hundred artists are represented in the over forty rooms of the permanent exhibition. Vito Acconci, Alberto Burri, Enzo Cucchi, Anselm Kiefer, Jannis Kounellis, Piero Manzoni, Mario Merz, Mimmo Paladino, Claudio Parmiggiani, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Ross Bleckner, Julian Schnabel: these are just some of the names encountered during the visit, now among the most recognized figures in contemporary art.
Painting is one of the main common threads of the collection, which also includes various sculptures and installations. One principle has guided the collector’s choices: these works introduced, at the time of their creation and acquisition, elements of experimentation and novelty in contemporary artistic research. This same principle is still the foundation of the program of invitations and commissions to young artists for the creation of new exhibition projects.
Temporary Exhibitions and Projects
Since its opening to the public, the Maramotti Collection has collaborated with emerging and mid-career international artists, often for their first solo exhibition in Italy, inviting them to create exhibitions specifically designed for the spaces of the Collection. From 2008 to 2020, nearly forty temporary projects have been presented, and many of the new works created have become part of the heritage: the Maramotti Collection is constantly growing, configured as a “living collection” that continues to support the evolution of contemporary art through direct dialogue with artists and promoting their research.
In 2019, ten temporary projects (Enoc Perez, Gert & Uwe Tobias, Jacob Kassay, Krištof Kintera, Jules de Balincourt, Alessandro Pessoli, Evgeny Antufiev, Thomas Scheibitz, Chantal Joffe, Alessandra Ariatti) were reinstalled in a semi-permanent form on the second floor of the Collection, to provide an overview of the ongoing work carried out over the years. Alongside this program of new projects, several thematic exhibitions featuring works from the Collection’s archive, photographic exhibitions – on the occasion of the Fotografia Europea festival in Reggio Emilia – and projects by the artists who won the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, in collaboration with Whitechapel Gallery, were also presented.
Max Mara Art Prize for Women, in collaboration with Whitechapel Gallery
Founded in 2005, the Max Mara Art Prize for Women reflects the close relationship between Max Mara and both the female world and the art world. The biennial prize, open to all forms of artistic expression, is dedicated to young female artists living and working in the United Kingdom, providing them with time and financial support to develop a new ambitious project.
The Prize is chaired by Iwona Blazwick, director of the prestigious Whitechapel Gallery in London. The jury, renewed for each edition, consists of four women who are key figures in the British art scene. The artist nominated as the winner spends six months of residency in Italy – during which she is followed and supported by the Collezione Maramotti – to explore, research, engage directly with the culture and history of our country, develop her creative potential, and realize a new artistic production. Her project is then exhibited at the Whitechapel Gallery and subsequently at the Collection, which also acquires it.
Exhibition view, 2013 © the artist Ph. Dario Lasagni
The winners of the first eight editions of the prize were: Margaret Salmon, Hannah Rickards, Andrea Büttner, Laure Prouvost, Corin Sworn, Emma Hart, Helen Cammock, and Emma Talbot.
Performance and Dance
Since 2009, the Collezione Maramotti has collaborated with the Theatres of Reggio Emilia to present, within the framework of the Festival Aperto, dance performances in its spaces. Over the years, several internationally renowned choreographers have been invited to create site-specific performances for the Collection, developing a choreographic dialogue with the artworks and the architecture of the building. From the Trisha Brown Dance Company to Dimitris Papaioannou, these performances have created unique moments of encounter and exchange between different energies and languages.
Atelier dell’Errore BIG
Atelier dell’Errore BIG is a high school of specialization and professionalization in the field of visual arts, founded in 2015 from the experience of Atelier dell’Errore, a visual arts workshop dedicated to children certified by Child Neuropsychiatry. Since its establishment, the Atelier dell’Errore BIG has been hosted in the spaces of the Collezione Maramotti. From the collaboration with the Collection and Max Mara, several important exhibition and editorial projects have emerged from the Atelier, whose expression, as an artistic collective, focuses on drawing and performance.
