Mark Bradford: Process Collettivo
13 April – 5 May 2024
This month in Venice, to celebrate the culmination of the eight-year partnership between Mark Bradford and non-profit Rio Terà dei Pensieri, Hauser & Wirth Publishers will launch a new book and fundraising limited edition work by the renowned American artist at a bookstore in the city. Proceeds from sales will support Rio Terà, the cooperative that creates work opportunities with and for people currently and recently incarcerated in two prisons in Venice.
‘In my practice, light and shadow exist in the same space. I’m not saying you cannot enjoy the beauty of Venice, but incarcerated people exist here alongside everyone else.’
MARK BRADFORD
Borsa
Made in collaboration with Berengo Studio in Murano—an island off Venice known as one of the world’s leading centers of glassmaking—this new edition consists of 30 glass sculptures of tote bags, a reference to both the PVC tote bags made in the workshops at the men’s prison and the branded totes ubiquitous at international art events such as the Venice Biennale. Bradford’s edition features an etching of tallies on its surface, symbolizing the temporality of incarceration.
To mark the collaboration between Bradford and Rio Terà, a new book documents and examines both Rio Terà’s multifaceted activities and the partnership with Bradford.
Mark Bradford: Process Collettivo
Edited and with an introduction by scholar Nicole R. Fleetwood, this new book from Hauser & Wirth Publishers features a conversation between the artist and former President of Rio Terà Liri Longo that delves into the history of their work together and the importance of relationships in collectives, nonprofit work and socially engaged artmaking.
Behind the Book
In celebration of the release of the new publication ‘Mark Bradford: Process Collettivo,’ join us at the Hauser & Wirth Publishers Bookstore in Venice to meet the artist and the people behind the publication.
Mark Bradford
Mark Bradford is a contemporary artist best known for his large-scale abstract paintings created out of paper. Characterized by its layered formal, material and conceptual complexity, Bradford’s work explores social and political structures that objectify marginalized communities and the bodies of vulnerable populations.
Process Collettivo
In 2016, artist and activist Mark Bradford began a partnership with Rio Terà dei Pensieri, a non-profit cooperative organization that creates work opportunities with and for people currently and recently incarcerated in two prisons in Venice, Italy. Called Process Collettivo, this ongoing project has built upon Rio Terà’s existing activities and raised further awareness of and support for the organization’s work.
Berengo Studio
Located in Murano—an island off Venice known as one of the world’s leading centers of glassmaking—Berengo Studio is an innovative glass-production company that has been working with glass for over three decades. Founded by Adriano Berengo, the studio has been working in collaboration with world-renowned artists to bring new life to the world of contemporary art through the use of glass.
