Casa Testori Opens Library with Book Sale, Alex Urso Exhibition

Casa Testori in Novate Milanese, directed by Davide Dall'Ombria since 2009, will open its library of 30,000 art volumes to the public on October 13, 2018, during the Giornata del Contemporaneo. The library, containing the collection of Giovanni Testori—a prolific Italian intellectual, novelist, playwright, critic, and painter—has over 500 duplicate rare books that will be sold at low prices to fund cataloging. A conference will feature five scholars each discussing a rare book from the library in twenty minutes, focusing on artists Gaudenzio, Michelangelo, Moroni, Courbet, and Picasso. An exhibition by Alex Urso, known for his collage and theatrical works, will inaugurate the space, marking his first solo show in a public Italian institution. Casa Testori, a 1930s villa with twenty rooms, maintains an exhibition program for contemporary artists and young curators on its ground floor, while the upper floor is dedicated to Testori's archive and library. Dall'Ombria emphasizes the institution's mission to use Testori's explosive energy for contemporary culture rather than musealizing him. The future of Casa Testori involves expanding beyond its walls to curate exhibitions and cultural events in Italy and abroad.