SPAZIO TAVERNA

Galleria Continua opened in San Gimignano in 1990, on the initiative of three friends: Mario Cristiani, Lorenzo Fiaschi and Maurizio Rigillo. Finding its headquarters in the spaces of a former cinema, Galleria Continua established itself and prospered in a completely unexpected position, far from the big cities and ultra-modern urban centres, in a village - San Gimignano - rich in history, timeless. This choice of location has made it possible to develop new forms of dialogue and symbiosis between unexpected geographies: rural and industrial, local and global, art of the past and art of today, famous and emerging artists. Remaining true to a spirit of perpetual evolution and committed to involving the widest possible audience in contemporary art, Galleria Continua has built a strong identity through its connections and experiences. This identity is founded on two values: generosity and altruism, which lie at the heart of all relationships with artists, the general public and its development as a whole. Galleria Continua was the first foreign gallery with an international program to open in China in 2004 and three years later, in 2007, it inaugurated a new particular site for large-scale creations - Les Moulins - in the Parisian countryside. In 2015 the gallery embarked on new paths, opening a space in Havana, Cuba, dedicated to cultural projects aimed at crossing all borders. Galleria Continua is a desire for continuity across the centuries, the aspiration to have a part in writing the history of the present, a history sensitive to contemporary creative practices and which preserves the link between past and future, and between different and unusual individuals and geographies . In 2020 he inaugurated a new exhibition venue in Rome within The St. Regis Rome and one in Brazil, Galleria Continua São Paulo, within the Pacaembu sports complex.

"Wounds and Absent Objects" for years was the only video made by Anish Kapoor, one of the greatest living artists, in his long career.
The work is a tribute to one of Kapoor's "heroes", the American artist Barnett Newman, an exponent of American Abstract Expressionism. A monochrome image, similar to a Barnett Newman painting, gradually changes from lighter to darker tones, one color blending into another until it becomes a dense shadow. A continuous sound, like a deep breath, a wind that comes from remote places, merges with the image and amplifies its presence and evocative power.

Anish Kapoor was born in Bombay in 1954. In the 70s he moved to London, the city where he now lives and works. His work has been exhibited in the most important museums and institutions around the world. He has had solo exhibitions at the Parque de la Memoria, Buenos Aires (2017); MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome (2016); MUAC University Museum of Contemporary Art, Mexico City (2016); Château de Versailles, France (2015); The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Moscow (2015); Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Istanbul (2013); Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2013); Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2012). He has taken part in numerous group exhibitions in contexts such as the Serpentine Gallery in London, Documenta IX in Kassel, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Center Georges Pompidou and the Louvre in Paris.

Many public and private collections house the artist's works, including the MoMA in New York and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Among the best known public commissions made by Kapoor in these years: Descension (Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York); Ark Nova (the first inflatable concert stage, touring Japan); Orbit (a permanent tower commissioned as part of the 2012 Olympic Games for Queen Elizabeth Park, London); Leviathan (Grand–Palais, Paris); Temenos (the first of the Tees Valley Giants project), Middlesbrough, UK; Marsyas (Tate Modern Turbine Hall, London), Cloud Gate (Millennium Park, Chicago), Underground with Arte Continua, medieval tower of Sant'Agostino, San Gimignano and Earth Cinema (Arte Pollino another south with Arte Continua, Basilicata). Anish Kapoor received the Premio Duemila at the Venice Biennale in 1990, the Turner Prize in 1991. He has been an honorary member of the Royal Institute of British Architecture since 2001 and in 2013 he received the honorary title of knight of the arts. In April 2022 Kapoor was the first British artist to be honored with a major exhibition at the Gallerie del'Accademia in Venice.