Artshow: The Pre-Smartphone Art Guide Gets a Museum Exhibition in Milan
Giulio Ciavoliello, founder and director of Artshow for 25 years, has donated a collection of the guide to Milan's Museo del Novecento, which is now hosting an exhibition dedicated to the publication. Artshow was an indispensable free guide for navigating art exhibitions from 1987 to 2011, before smartphones. It featured city maps, essential exhibition info, and artist-designed covers. The guide began as a Milan-only fold-out in November 1986, funded by collector Gianni Aglietta, and expanded to cover Italy from October 1990. Ciavoliello is open to donating copies to other museums and archives. The exhibition reveals the genesis of the title, inspired by the US equivalence of 'show' and 'exhibition.' The first cover image was by Gerhard Merz in 1990, the last by Marisa Merz in 2011; notably, no cover was ever dedicated to Mario Merz.
Key facts
- Giulio Ciavoliello founded and directed Artshow for 25 years.
- Artshow was a free guide to art exhibitions published from 1987 to 2011.
- The guide included city maps and essential exhibition information.
- The first issue appeared in November 1986 as a Milan-only fold-out.
- Funding for the first issue came from collector Gianni Aglietta.
- Artshow expanded to cover Italy from October 1990.
- The first cover image was by Gerhard Merz in 1990.
- The last cover image was by Marisa Merz in 2011.
- No cover was ever dedicated to Mario Merz.
- The exhibition is at Museo del Novecento in Milan.
- Ciavoliello donated a series of copies to the museum.
- He is willing to donate to other museums and archives.
Entities
Artists
- Giulio Ciavoliello
- Gerhard Merz
- Marisa Merz
- Mario Merz
- Pasquale Leccese
- Alessandro Seno
- Andrea Murnik
- Gianni Aglietta
- Laurel Scheinman
- Maria Pia Bolletta Quarzo-Cerina
- Gianfranco Maraniello
- Iolanda Ratti
Institutions
- Museo del Novecento
- Le Case d'Arte
- Cerruti 1881
- Giancarlo Politi Editore
- Artribune
- Amazon
Locations
- Milan
- Italy
- Canton Ticino
- Sicily
- New York
- United States