Patrizia Sandretto on Buying Art During the Pandemic

Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, president of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and a prominent collector, continued acquiring artworks throughout 2020 despite the pandemic. She purchased works by Luiz Zerbini, Ana Elisa Egreja, Victor Man, Ambera Wellmann, Pia Krajewski, Manuele Cerutti, and David Czupryn. She also supported the production of Michele Rizzo's installation 'Rest' for the Quadriennale in Rome and co-commissioned Marwa Arsanios's video 'Who's Afraid of Ideology? (Part 3) – Microresistances (2020)' for the 11th Berlin Biennale. In collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Fondazione co-produced and co-acquired Martine Syms's 'Neural Swamp', an AI-driven installation to be presented in Turin in September 2021. Sandretto missed visiting exhibitions and meeting artists, but participated in online studio visits and a virtual tour of Josh Kline's solo show at the Astrup Fearnley Museet in Oslo. She predicts the next generation of artists will be digital natives, while painting, sculpture, and performance remain essential. She calls for addressing gender disparity, structural racism, and unsustainable practices like excessive air travel in the art world.