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Almine Rech

Day for Night: New American Realism

Apr 14 — Sep 8, 2024 | Palazzo Barberini, Rome, Italy

Ziad AntarBrian Calvin, George Condo, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Sam McKinnissRichard Prince and Ouattara Watts are part of the exhibition Day for Night: New American Realism, at Palazzo Barberini, Rome, Italy. 

The exhibition Day for Night: New American Realism presents more than 150 works from the Aïshti Foundation’s collection of contemporary art. Launched twenty-five years ago by Italian-Lebanese businessman Tony Salamé, this foundation has become a truly dynamic force for art in the Middle East and beyond. At its headquarters in Beirut – designed in 2015 by David Adjaye Architects – it regularly presents major thematic exhibitions and important solo shows, while through its support for other institutions, the foundation works with museums around the world.

The exhibition borrows its title from a work by New York artist Lorna Simpson, but also refers to a film technique. “Day for night” is a cinematic trick that makes it possible to shoot night scenes in broad daylight. The term was made famous by a 1973 François Truffaut film with the same title; in French, day for night is known as nuit américaine, “American night” – an image well suited to the chiaroscuro visions of these artists, who, over the last few decades, have worked to capture the reality of the United States in its complexity.

Press release

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