UGO NESPOLO IS PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL CINEMA MUSEUM

Ugo Nespolo is the new President of Turin’s National Cinema Museum.

He was unanimously elected during a session of the National Cinema Museum’s College of Founders, which took place today, 21st October, with representatives from Regione Piemonte (Piedmont’s regional government), Turin’s city council, the provincial government of Turin, Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione CRT, the National Cinema Museum Association and GTT S.p.A in attendance. Ugo Nespolo’s mandate will last three years.

“I’m delighted at the prospect of this role,” said Ugo Nespolo, “because I believe the National Cinema Museum to be pre-eminent on an international scale. I hope to continue the good work carried out by my predecessor, Alessandro Casazza, who – along with its director, Alberto Barbera – has taken the museum to new heights. The partnership with Barbera has lasted for many years and we hope that together we will accomplish new, prestigious achievements. I am also delighted,” added Nespolo, “that the institutions present were unanimous in appointing me. This gives me a greater sense of confidence and joy in undertaking such an important post.”

Ugo Nespolo was born in Mosso, in the province of Biella, in 1941.

Having gained his diploma at the Accademia Albertina with Enrico Paolucci and a degree in modern literature at the University of Turin, Ugo Nespolo soon felt that his academic and provincial season was coming to a close and explored new possibilities not only from an expressive point of view, but from an intellectual point of view as well. Right from the beginning, his relationship with the highest echelons of Turin’s cultural life was very close, interacting with them on many different levels.

His first two solo shows in 1966 already exhibited a wide-ranging level of stylistic research. It was also in the late 1960s when he began to nurture a passion for film, which led him to found the Cinema degli Artisti with Mario Schifano, inspired by the New American Cinema. He made many films and came into contact with the beat generation. His involvement in film lasted for many years, resulting in many important retrospectives on his work in museums, galleries, foundations and cultural institutions.

For him, the interaction between different arts is essential, something which requires a different relationship with the audience. His interest moved from Paris to New York, where he lived for some time, to the point where he opened a studio. The wide-ranging nature of this openness to other arts went beyond the choice of a painter’s vocation, enriching it with many different contributions and resonances, as well as strengthening it with a deep critical awareness. An artist and a man of culture, he is convinced that making art cannot be divorced from reflecting on art. Nespolo justifies the need to ‘be contaminated’, going down to the grass roots and adapting art to the needs of the common man, so as to include it in the course of everyday life. Hence the attention paid to design and his assiduous practice of an applied art that has led Nespolo to tackle the most diverse sectors, thanks to his unique and unmistakable style.

His works of art have been exhibited in the most prestigious art galleries and the most important museums in the world, from Milan to Rome and Naples, from Paris to London, from Chicago to New York, China, Russia and Latin America.