Eleonora Aguiari
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Eleonora Aguiari (born 1973) is an Italian
installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...
ist and author, who lives between London and Paris. Her best known work consisted of wrapping a historic statue in London in red tape.


Life

Eleonora Aguiari was born in
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, ZĂȘna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
, Italy. She studied philosophy at the
University of Milan The University of Milan ( it, UniversitĂ  degli Studi di Milano; la, Universitas Studiorum Mediolanensis), known colloquially as UniMi or Statale, is a public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe ...
. In 1990–7 she founded, and was director of, Zanzibar publishers in Milan, publishing 50 titles.Buckman, David: "Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945", page 15. Art Dictionaries, 2006 She wrote two books, including ''Milanoetnica'' with Marina Gersony. She moved to London in 1998, where she studied at
Chelsea College of Art and Design Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further education, further ...
,
Central St Martins College of Art and Design Central Saint Martins is a public university, public tertiary education, tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and pos ...
and the
Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...
(RCA).


Artistic career

In 2004, for her final show at the Royal College of Art, Aguiari wrapped an equestrian statue of Lord Napier of Magdala, situated on
Queen's Gate Queen's Gate is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs south from Kensington Gardens' Queen's Gate (the edge of which gardens are here followed by Kensington Road) to Old Brompton Road, intersecting Cromwell Road. The street ...
in West London, in bright red duct tape, giving the appearance of the statue being painted red. In order to do this she needed clearance letters from the RCA Rector, a professor, the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
conservation department and the RCA conservation department, bronze tests, a scaffolding license, indemnity insurance, and permission from
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
(who own the statue), the City of Westminster, the Boroughs of
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
and Kensington (their boundary bisects the length of the horse) and the present Lord Napier. A layer of cling wrap and almost 80 rolls of red duct tape were applied by four people working for four days. Aguiari described it as "a Zen action up there in the middle of traffic, but alone with a beautiful statue. Every detail on the statue is perfect and slightly larger than normal," and said that "statuary that symbolizes military past, or imperialism should be covered to make the topics of the past visible.""The Red Tape of Red Tape", arcroyal.co.uk
Retrieved March 22, 2006
Despite the official clearance and the temporary nature of her action, the international press coverage, including a
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...
press agency photo reproduced in the ''Daily Times'' of
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, ensured that a controversy ensued. Aguiari was not familiar with the metaphorical use of the term " red tape" (meaning pedantic bureaucracy) but this was spotted by the advertising firm of
Saatchi and Saatchi Saatchi & Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency gr ...
, who wanted to use her idea for a "
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
advertising campaign" and asked her to wrap an ambulance in red tape. She rejected the invitation."Artist Caught up in Red Tape and Tory Ad Campaign", The Guardian, June 12, 2004
Retrieved March 22, 2006
In 2005 she was one of the artists selected for the first BLOC show, promoted by Bowieart at County Hall, London. In 2005–6 she showed a sculpture at Bishops Square, Spitalfields, East London, sponsored by the Spitalfields Development Group.Dickson Russell Art Management
Accessed 21 January 2007 This was a silhouette of the nearby Christ Church Spitalfields and was coloured bright red. Group shows have included Tomato Gallery (2001) and Bloomberg Space (2004). Her large scale installations include Lamont Road Passage,
Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...
, (2003) and Fontebianca (2003).Buckman, David: "Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945", page 16. Art Dictionaries, 2006


See also

*
Art intervention Art intervention is an interaction with a previously existing artwork, audience, venue/space or situation. It has the auspice of conceptual art and is commonly a form of performance art. It is associated with the Viennese Actionists, the Dada mov ...
*
Conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...
*
Installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...


References


External links


Photo of Aguiari's Spitalfields sculpture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguiari, Eleonora 1969 births Living people 20th-century Italian women artists 21st-century Italian women artists Italian conceptual artists Women conceptual artists Italian installation artists Artists from Genoa Italian contemporary artists Alumni of the Royal College of Art Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts Alumni of Central Saint Martins