Link Art Center closes, founders reflect on digital art's mainstreaming
Founded in 2011 by Domenico Quaranta, Lucio Chiappa, Matteo Cremonesi, and Fabio Paris, the Link Art Center has officially shut down, citing the integration of digital culture into the mainstream. This nonprofit organization was dedicated to raising awareness of information-age arts both in Italy and globally. The founders observed that topics such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality have become integral to major events like the Venice Biennale. Quaranta remarked that the art community has embraced new media. While the closure is viewed as a successful mission, expanding without public funding proved difficult. Notable projects included "Collect the WWWorld" (2012), "6PM Your Local Time Europe" (2015), "Dadaclub.online" (2016-2017), and "Link Cabinet" (2014-2019). Quaranta currently teaches at Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara.
Key facts
- Link Art Center founded in 2011 as a cultural association.
- Mission: promote information-age arts nationally and internationally.
- Founders: Domenico Quaranta, Lucio Chiappa, Matteo Cremonesi, Fabio Paris.
- Closure announced in 2019, citing mainstreaming of digital culture.
- Quaranta noted AI and VR are now central to contemporary art events like Venice Biennale.
- Exhibition 'Collect the WWWorld' held at 319 Scholes, New York in 2012.
- Event '6PM Your Local Time Europe' in 2015 involved over 100 locations from 23 European countries.
- Platform 'Dadaclub.online' ran from Feb 5, 2016 to Feb 5, 2017, received 148 works.
- Link Cabinet online exhibition space hosted 30 shows from April 2014 to July 2019.
- Link Editions published free downloadable content with no copyright restrictions.
- Quaranta now teaches at Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara and leads 'Hyperemployment' with Aksioma.
- Cremonesi continues with IOCOSE, focusing on space exploration and Silicon Valley.
Entities
Artists
- Domenico Quaranta
- Lucio Chiappa
- Matteo Cremonesi
- Fabio Paris
- Marina Abramović
- Anish Kapoor
- Penelope Umbrico
- Brad Troemel
- Evan Roth
- Jonas Lund
- Addie Wagenknecht
- Nicolas Maigret
- JODI
- Eva Papamargariti
- Guido Segni
- Carlo Zanni
- Nicholas Sassoon
- Morehshin Allahyari
- Michael Mandiberg
- David Horvitz
- Sara Ludy
- Lorna Mills
- Bani Brusadin
- Eva & Franco Mattes
- Valentina Tanni
Institutions
- Link Art Center
- Link Editions
- Link Cabinet
- Aksioma Institute for Contemporary Art Ljubljana
- Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara
- Fotomuseum Winterthur
- 319 Scholes
- Cabaret Voltaire
- IOCOSE
- Artribune
- Politecnico di Milano
- NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti
Locations
- Italy
- New York
- United States
- Zurich
- Switzerland
- Brescia
- United Kingdom
- Europe
- Carrara
- Ljubljana
- Slovenia