Draft:Anna Valeria Borsari

• Comment: Entire sections within this draft are unreferenced. The subject of the draft is a living person, therefore each assertion in the draft must be referenced. Hoary (talk) 22:15, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

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Anna Valeria Borsari (born 1943 in Bazzano, Italy) is an Italian visual artist known for her ephemeral and site-specific artworks. Spanning various media, including painting, photography, video, and installation, Borsari's practice often engages with social and urban environments, blurring the boundaries between art and life.

Early Life, Education, and Academic Career

Anna Valeria Borsari was born in Bazzano, near Bologna, where her mother had taken refuge during WWII bombings. Her early passion for drawing and painting was diverted by her parents, who enrolled her in a classical high school rather than an art school. She later studied Philosophy and Literature at the University of Bologna, where she wrote her thesis on André Malraux. After graduating, Borsari received a scholarship for research in linguistics, philosophy of language, and perception, disciplines that would deeply influence her art. The conceptual art movement, which she encountered during her studies, resonated with her academic interests and later shaped her artistic practice.

In 1970, Borsari became a visiting professor of Romance Philology at the University of Bologna. That same year, a near-fatal embolism marked a turning point in her life. Following this event, she married, had a child, and decided to focus on her passion for visual arts, which she viewed as an extension of daily life and an alternative to traditional autonomy in art.

Artistic Practice

Borsari’s work investigates themes of reference and identity, as evident in her 1976 solo show at palazzo Bentivoglio. in Bologna, titled Del riferimento e dell’identità, which shared a title with an article she published in Lingua e stile. Her early exhibitions included shows at Ginevra Grigolo’s G7 gallery in Bologna, the Cavallino Gallery in Venice, and collaborations with Schema in Florence and with Mario Diacono in Bologna. In 1977, she also created episodes on visual arts for the independent radio station Radio Alice.

Through works like Narciso, Attraversarsi, Autoritratto in una stanza, and her Madonne di monete e cereali series, Borsari moved beyond traditional conceptual art. Her later works incorporated diverse media, embedding art within specific urban environments and challenging traditional boundaries between art and life.

Site-Specific and Ephemeral Works

In the 1980s, Borsari continued to create site-specific pieces, often in non-traditional venues such as abandoned apartments, hospitals, and outdoor urban spaces. Notable works include Altrove (1980), Il sangue è rosso, il rosso è un colore (1981), Donna isola e ponte (1982), Spaccato urbano (1999), and Dall’Acropoli al Pireo (2022). These works were intended to “share the destiny” of their locations, evolving with the spaces for which they were conceived.

Publications and Academic Contributions

In 1983, Borsari published Lancillotto liberato and, in 1984, was appointed associate professor of Romance Philology at the University of Bologna. That same year, she organised the interdisciplinary conference Ipotesi d'artista, which challenged the commercial direction of the art world. The event included notable scholars such as Filiberto Menna and Mauro Ceruti. She later edited the journal Ipotesi d’artista, which explored themes like symmetry, with contributions from intellectuals like Ervin László, Gillo Dorfles, Dadamaino, Michele Emmer, and Gianni Colombo, among others.

Her journal Ipotesi d’artista was instrumental in fostering interdisciplinary dialogue between the arts, philosophy, and linguistics, reflecting Borsari’s intellectual approach to art making.

Socially Engaged Art

In 1994, Borsari left academia to focus exclusively on her artistic practice. She became increasingly involved in social engagement through her art, founding the association Percorso Vita in response to personal loss. This association supported individuals with mental health challenges for a decade. Borsari also produced several socially engaged projects, including Manifestazione (2000) and Lotteria (2000), where visitors could win her own personal belongings, challenging the commercialised nature of art and offering a more direct form of public engagement.

Later Projects, and Relocation to Milan

Since 2003, Borsari has continued to create works that engage with social issues and examine the role of the public in contemporary art. In 2007, she relocated to Milan, where she co-founded AR.RI.VI (Archivio Ricerca Visiva), a platform for exploring visual research. In 2012, a partial retrospective of her work was held at Fondazione Mudima

Between 2013 and 2015, Borsari developed a project titled Il ruolo del pubblico nell’arte contemporanea, in which she explored public engagement through articles in a dedicated blog, www.arteperchi.org, and through her 2015 publication Arte per chi (A+M Bookstore).

In 2015, she participated in the conference Naturale e/o artefatto at the University of Bologna's Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, where she created a video installation titled Musei del vento, displayed in the nearby Museo Paleontologico.

In 2016, Borsari’s video works Il testimone (The Witness), Autoritratto in una stanza (Self-Portrait in a Room), and Attraversarsi (Crossing Oneself) were shown as part of the exhibition Extra Dry at Peep-Hole in Milan, Italy.

Retrospective

In 2021, the Museo del Novecento in Milan hosted a major retrospective, Anna Valeria Borsari. Da qualche punto incerto, which highlighted her ongoing exploration of identity, place, and the evolving role of art in contemporary society. This comprehensive exhibition offered an in-depth look at her career, displaying both early works and more recent projects.