Iván Argote to Open Italian Piazza and London Show
A giant pigeon over New York was just the start. Colombian artist Iván Argote will remake a public square in an ancient Italian town.
The new Piazza del Chafleo opens in Bene Vagienna, in the province of Cuneo, from 11 October. It is a permanent, site-specific work, meaning it was designed for that exact spot and will stay there. It takes the form of a revitalised public space where people can meet, sit and pass through. The Art Newspaper reports the project was chosen for the third edition of Radis.
Radis is the Piedmontese word for “root”. The initiative backs new works made with and for small places in Piedmont, in north-west Italy. It is supported by Fondazione Arte CRT in Italy, the art-oriented arm of Fondazione CRT, along with Fondazione CRC. Its patron and president is Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo.
The model is already tested. Earlier Radis editions left permanent public works in the region, including a work by Giulia Cenci in Rittana and one by Petrit Halilaj in Dogliani. Both are towns in Piedmont. The idea is simple. An artist works with local people and leaves something useful behind.
Almost in parallel, Argote opens in Britain. His exhibition Mamarrachos: Quinceañera runs at Perrotin gallery in London from 6 October to 19 December. It is his ninth solo show with the gallery, a one-artist exhibition staged by the same dealer, according to show listings Ocula. His first show with Perrotin was in Paris in 2011.
Many readers will know Argote for Dinosaur (2024). That monumental pigeon, a large-scale sculpture of the familiar city bird, stood on the High Line, the raised park in New York, from 2024 to 2026. His wider practice covers sculpture, installation, film and public interventions, which are artworks made directly in streets and shared spaces.
For visitors, this means two very different encounters this autumn. Walk through a working piazza in Italy. Step into a gallery room in London. No background in art history is needed for either one.
