Corporate Art Awards Explained

The Corporate Art Awards are the international awards for the best art projects developed by the business world. They were launched in Rome (Italy) in 2016 by pptArt under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Culture and with the support of the General Confederation of Italian Industry and LUISS Business School.

2016 edition

Under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Culture, in 2016 pptArt organized the first edition of the Corporate Art Awards,^{[1] [2]} aimed at recognizing the best collaborations between the Corporate World and the Art World.^{[3] [4]} Out of 80 participating companies from 22 countries, the winners were Banca Intesa Sanpaolo and Deutsche Bank^[5] for the best corporate collection, American Express for its international restoration program, Shiseido for the oldest corporate collection in Japan^[6] and Piaggio for the social media campaign to support its corporate museum.

The 2016 edition of the Corporate Art Awards was also the occasion for the launch of the Corporate Art Manifesto which was signed by the following artists: John David Mooney, Alexander Evgenievich Ponomarev, Ugo Nespolo, Fernando De Filippi, Stefano Pizzi, etc. ^[7]

2017 edition

In the 2017 edition, the scope of the Corporate Art Awards was extended to include the Institutional world. The program was then renamed “Mecenati of the XXI century” with the aim to recognize the best art projects supported by institutions and corporations. The winners of the 2017 Institutional Art Awards were: Central Bank of Italy, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Investment Bank, Central Bank of Ecuador,^[8] European Parliament, UNOG (United Nations Office at Geneva), etc.

The winners of the 2017 Corporate Art Awards were: Intesa Sanpaolo bank as “Patron of the XXI century”,^[9] Borsa Italiana,^[10] The Absolut Company, Assicurazioni Generali, Ferragamo,^[11] Davidoff, Fiat,^[12] etc. The 2017 Awards Ceremony was hosted by the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace.^[13]

Historical background

The following initiatives contributed to the development of the Corporate Art Awards:

• the first Corporate Art exhibit at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome on June 26, 2015.^{[14] [15] [16]} The exhibit presented 78 works of art commissioned by the Corporate World in the last century. Among the Italian artists were Afro Basaldella, Renzo Vespignani, and Giuseppe Santomaso for Esso, Renato Guttuso for Strega, Ugo Nespolo for Piaggio, Leonetto Cappiello for Bacardi Martini, Flavio Favelli for Fabbri. Among the international artists were Romero Britto for Absolut Vodka, Peter Max for American Express, Tom Sachs for Montblanc.
• the Corporate art course at the LUISS Business School
• the creation of the first art crowdsourcing platform with the aim of reintroducing commissioned art through digital innovation^{[17] [18]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Assegnati i Corporate Art Awards 2016: “Italia torna capitale del mecenatismo”. LaPresse. 23 November 2016.
2. Web site: Corporate Art Awards 2016 – Official website.
3. Web site: Петракова. Анастасия. Премию Corporate Art Award вручили фонду Потанина. The Art Newspaper. Moscow. 26 November 2016.
4. Web site: Петракова. Анастасия. Среди номинантов International Corporate Art Awards три российские корпорации. The Art Newspaper. Moscow. 21 September 2016.
5. Web site: Pirrelli. Marilena. A Deutsche Bank il Corporate Art Awards. Il Sole 24 Ore. 26 November 2016.
6. Web site: Shiseido Placed Third in Italy’s Corporate Art Awards 2016.
7. Web site: Nastro. Santa. Arte e aziende. Nasce il Manifesto della Corporate Art: lo firmano Ugo Nespolo, Alexander Ponomarev e Fernando De Filippi. Artribune. Rome. November 21, 2016.
8. Web site: Museo Numismático del Ecuador fue nominado para los premios “Institutional Art Awards”. El Tiempo. 6 September 2017.
9. Web site: Al gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo il premio speciale per i mecenati. Corriere della Sera. 22 November 2017.
10. Web site: Borsa Italiana vince il premio Corporate Art Award. 22 November 2017.
11. Web site: Più mecenati tra le imprese: a Ferragamo e Generali il premio Art bonus. Il Sole 24 ORE. 22 November 2017.
12. Web site: Fiat 500 entra al MoMA e vince il Corporate Art Awards 2017. Corriere dello Sport. 23 November 2017.
13. Web site: Il Presidente Mattarella ha ricevuto i partecipanti al Convegno "Mecenati del XXI secolo". 22 November 2017.
14. Web site: Companies display their art in GNAM museum exhibit. https://archive.today/20160424185350/http://www.agi.it/iphone-en/notizie/companies_display_their_art_in_gnam_museum_exhibit-201506262134-cro-inw0010. dead. 24 April 2016. Agenzia Giornalistica Italia. Rome. 26 June 2015.
15. http://www.beniculturali.it/mibac/export/MiBAC/sito-MiBAC/Contenuti/MibacUnif/Eventi/visualizza_asset.html_1038560492.html Corporate Art. L'azienda come oggetto d'arte
16. Web site: Alla Gnam “Corporate Art”, la mostra tra business e creatività. La Repubblica. Rome. 5 May 2015.
17. Web site: Zinola. Anna. Crowdsourcing in arte. Corriere della Sera. Rome. 30 October 2014.
18. Web site: Maci. Luciana. È italiana la prima startup di crowdsourcing per l'arte. EconomyUp. Rome. 2 May 2014.