EDITO

KEEPING IT PERSONAL

The added value of contemporary art is the strong human relationships you can build with living artists. It’s about people rather than just objects. This is the epitome of Palazzo Monti, my namesake foundation and artist residency program in Brescia.

Saturated by a five-year career in fashion, I decided to leave New York and move back to Italy into my family’s 13th century palazzo. Here, I began to pursue my real passion – contemporary art – by welcoming artists to take residence. Since 2017, over 200 artists from 50 countries have taken part in our artist program where each creative is invited to leave a piece created during their stay explaining why the palazzo boasts a vast collection of paintings and prints, installations, and objects in ceramic, iron, bronze, marble, or wood inspired by the savoir-faire of the Italian territory. The 400-piece strong collection grows on a monthly basis, both with acquisitions and donations. Each artwork holds a memory, a story, a conversation, adding pages to a life diary.

Being an exhibition space showcasing temporary installations, my home never looks the same for long. For the first time, we will host a liveable installation curated by Vipp where we invite guests to check into the palazzo. In the baroque frames, a pop-up hotel is realised by Danish interior designer, Julie Cloos Mølsgaard, who has imagined both the rooms as well as the combined kitchen and dining area occupying the ground floor. The dialogue between Danish modern design and classic Italian splendour is fascinating and I am excited for guests to wake up under the frescoes and experience the fusion of ancient walls and modern spirits.