Francesco Arena's 5,468 Days: A Monograph Spanning Fifteen Years

Skira has published 'Francesco Arena ‒ 5468 giorni', a 272-page monograph on the Italian artist Francesco Arena (born 1978 in Torre Santa Susanna). The title refers to the exact number of days between his first and last works included in the volume, covering fifteen years of production. Each work is accompanied by a descriptive card written by the artist himself, contextualizing it within his career. The book features texts by Vincenzo De Bellis and Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, and opens with a conversation between Arena and Ines Goldbach. Arena's practice engages with historical and current events, blending public and private stories to reflect on Italy's complex identity. Notable works include '3,24' (2004), a 1:1 reconstruction of the presumed prison cell on via Montalcini 8 where Aldo Moro was held, and 'Marble with 3274 days' (2019), a marble shard carved to hold 1,637 diary sheets, each containing two days from October 23, 2009 to October 10, 2018. These dates mark the aftermath of Stefano Cucchi's death and the confirmation of his murder by beating. Arena employs a personal minimalism using materials like stone, cardboard, sugar packets, bronze, and refractory earth.