Carlo Vanoni: Making Contemporary Art Accessible to the Masses

Carlo Vanoni, a sociologist and cultural heritage graduate from Urbino and Ca' Foscari, Venice, has dedicated his career to demystifying contemporary art for the general public. Through theater, radio, TV, publications, and YouTube videos recorded while driving, he explains complex art concepts in simple terms. His book "Andy Warhol era calvo" collects anecdotes about art fairs, installations, and collectors. Vanoni's first theater show, "L'arte è una caramella," was inspired by Félix González-Torres's "Portrait of Ross in L.A." He aims to make art a common topic of discussion like sports or politics, targeting the 50 million who don't know artists like Tino Sehgal rather than the 500,000 who visit the Venice Biennale. Vanoni believes all art is contemporary, as it emerges from its historical context, and he uses analogies—like playing piano for Kandinsky's abstraction or electric guitar for Pollock's action painting—to bridge understanding. He critiques the art world's failure to maintain public engagement, comparing art to a telenovela that lost its audience when channels shifted to Baroque or Canaletto. Vanoni's dream job would be discussing Malevich on Barbara d'Urso's show. The interview was conducted by Alessandra Galletta and published on Artribune on March 20, 2018.