Extra DRY is a project of collaboration between Peep-Hole and DRY Cocktails & Pizza at Via Solferino 33 in Milan. The initiative comes from a shared desire to take art out of its usual places and experiment with its possible insertion in different contexts. For the second appointment of Extra DRY, Riccardo Giacconi presents the videos Chi ha lottato con l’angelo resta fosforescente, 2013, Quello che non c’è (#2), 2009 and Quello che non c’è (#4.4), 2013. 

The invitation on the part of the founders of DRY, who are also art lovers, to imagine a project that brings art into their venue, offers an opportunity for Peep-Hole to experiment with new ways of connecting with a wider audience, putting them in touch with contemporary artistic research. The high quality, contemporary spirit and accessibility that are DRY’s strong points become the guidelines for Extra DRY, a program of video screenings focusing on the younger generations of Italian art. Starting in October, videos will be shown by Diego Marcon, Cleo Fariselli, Riccardo Giacconi, Giovanni Giaretta, Alice Ronchi and Francesco Joao Scavarda, each with a two-month solo stay in the venue.

During this period the spaces of DRY will host three videos, installed in different rooms, on view during regular opening hours. The artists’ projects are “mimetically” inserted in the convivial spaces of DRY, suggesting a different situation of viewing and a continuous flow of images that produce a transformation of perception, drawing attention to the work. DRY thus becomes a showcase for the most interesting artistic experimentation of the latest generations, and an opportunity for a wider public to get acquainted with the work of these young artists.

Riccardo Giacconi (San Severino Marche, MC, 1985. Lives and works in Paris). His artistic research focuses on language and narration as a form of resistance or of belonging to a socio-political context. The oral transmission of a folk tradition plays a fundamental role for Giacconi, thanks to its capacity to produce enchantment and to conserve memory, making it into a story. The contents of his works are mostly historical-political in nature, with a linguistic-literary basis. He is particularly interested in the possible relationships between literature and the visual arts, transposing poetic or narrative compositions into environmental installations, videos and performances. Riccardo Giacconi has participated in many group shows, including the Lyon Biennial and the Prague Biennial. In 2011 he showed work at Palazzo Reale in Milan, together with the finalists of the Ariane de Rothschild Prize. Recent residencies include VIR Viafarini, Milan (2011), MACRO, Rome (2012), and La Box, Bourges (2013). In 2007 he co-founded the Blauer Hase group.