THE BALLY CULTURAL FOUNDATION
Presented to the public in 2007, the Bally Cultural Foundation was set up
with the single objective of finding and promoting real talent in the Ticino
area. The Foundation ensures that this talent is supported on an
international level by one of the most famous luxury brands in the world.
Luxury is a lifestyle in the Bally universe, a concrete and tangible concept
that is manifested in the quality and attention to detail that characterizes
all of its product lines.
This manufacturing philosophy reflects a business culture that over the
years has led Bally to create products that could be compared to true
works of art.
A liaison of artistic values: Bally decided to be associated with the area of
Ticino, investing in the culture and creativity of local talent and providing
them the unique opportunity to be supported and promoted on a regional
and international level. In order to combine their company history and
tradition in the visual arts with a more incisive presence in Ticino, Bally
decided to take an important step in social communication by setting up
the Bally Cultural Foundation. As of 2014, the Bally Foundation is a
member of the Swiss Foundation.
A FASCINATING HISTORY LINKED TO DESIGN AND ART
Bally was founded in 1851 in the Swiss village of Schönenwerd by
visionary Carl Franz Bally making him one of the first luxury shoe
designers and Bally one of the world’s oldest luxury brands. In the 1870s,
shortly after the company was founded, the brand started selling shoes
throughout Europe and South America opening stores in GenevaSwitzerland, Paris-France, London-United Kingdom and MontevideoUruguay. The brand was also one of the first luxury brands to enter China
in 1986. Carl Franz’s international approach was a success and saw Bally
grow fast to become a leading shoe brand the world over. Carl Franz was
also a keen archivist and during all these years of business, Bally created
an awe inspiring archive featuring over 35,000 pairs of shoes and more
than 400 Bally advertising posters. In addition, the brand has a long
legacy of collaborating with some of the best architects and designers
such as Karl Moser (1919), Robert Mallet-Stevens (1928), Andrée Putman
(1995) and Le Corbusier (1949). Bally was one of the first brands to
partner with famous designers to construct their stores from 1927
onwards. The brand’s artistic collaborations also extended to advertising
which included works by Otto Baumberger (1910), Emil Cardinaux (1920),
Lise Berset (1963), Bernard Villemot (1968) and Raymond Savignac. Many
original pieces are held in public and private collections all over the world.
CONSTANTLY LOOKING FOR TALENTS IN THE SHADOWS
TO HIGHLIGHT
In order to clarify the aims of this Foundation, the Foundation Committee
deemed it appropriate to review the meaning of the word "talent".
Ability, attitude, inclination, creativity and geniality. Since 2007, the Bally
Foundation has been engaged in a search for talented people aged from
21 to 55 that were born in or are resident in the Canton Ticino.
AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION
For a year now, the Bally Foundation has supported the activities of its
chosen talented Ticino residents by organizing exhibitions in museums,
purchasing works, creating monographs featuring their work and
providing them with financial support to help them realize their artistic
projects.
APPLYING IS EASY
Candidates are selected annually using the following methods:
advertisements in the main Ticino newspapers, the website, public
relations, personal contacts and mailing lists to art galleries, museums
and schools.
Entries for the title of Bally Foundation Artist of the year are open all year
round. Anyone who wishes to take part in the competition can sign up at
any time of year by completing the dedicated electronic form published
on our website: www.fondazionebally.ch
There is no expiry date for candidacy and whenever the Judging
Commission deems it appropriate, and with their permission, it may reenter artists, giving them the chance to win the following year's
competition.
Candidacy forms should be sent to: The Bally Cultural Foundation c/o
Mazzantini & Associati SA, Corso Elvezia 10, CH 6900 Lugano. Examples
of work (drawings/photographs/reproductions) should be in A4 format
(approx. 21 x 29.7 cm.) and should bear the creator's name and surname
on the back.
THE BALLY CULTURAL FOUNDATION COMMITTEE
In order to achieve its objectives, the Bally Cultural Foundation includes
local cultural personalities that demonstrate ability, experience and
integrity amongst its members.
The current Members of the Foundation are as follows:
The Board of Trustees
Mihaela Smickoski
President
Gian Luca Serra
Member
Il Comitato Artistico
Ivo Soldini
Sculptor
Edo Bertoglio
Photographer and director
Elisa Bortoluzzi Dubach
University lecturer and consultant in the
fields of public relations, foundations and
sponsoring
Caterina Carletti
SUPSI lecturer in business economics
Roberto Mazzantini
Communications expert
ALEX DORICI, A CONCEPTUAL ARTIST FROM LUGANO
2014 BALLY FOUNDATION ARTIST OF THE YEAR
In 2014, the Artistic Committee of the Bally Cultural Foundation, after
assessing numerous artists including photographers, illustrators, painters
and sculptors, decided to nominate Alex Doric "Bally Foundation Artist of
the Year".
Born in Lugano in 1979, he is a painter, engraver and conceptual artist
who began his training at the Giuseppe Terragni Art College in Como
before continuing his studies at the Aldo Galli Academy of Fine Arts, also
in Como, from which he graduated in 2005.
In 2003, before completing his studies, he took part in the Angelo Tenchi
(Como) student competition, winning the first prize in the video category
with the short film "Saudade Itamar.”
After graduating, he moved to Paris where he worked at the Atelier
Contrepoint, also known as Atelier 17, run by the artist engraver Hayter.
Here he attended, studied and observed the Parisian artistic scene,
developing his art beyond a two-dimensional approach. In 2010, he
returned to Ticino and began conceiving and creating artistic projects
involving the urban fabric.
In 2011, he created an installation in the city of Lugano, naming it
"Working to serve you better".
Recently, on 26 June 2015, the City of Lugano awarded him a mural
decoration in the atrium of the new elementary school in Pregassona.
"What it is the role of the artist in our consumer-driven, technological and
globalised society?"
This is the question that Alex Doric has always addressed since the start
of his artistic career. Born in Lugano, an undoubtedly rich and wealthy city
where consumerism is a strong part of everyday living, he spent his
childhood close to a waste recycling centre.
This location, added to his family's relative poverty, fuelled his interest in
materials destined for destruction. It was based on these considerations
that the 2014 Bally Foundation Artist of the Year found the answer to his
question on the role of the artist in modern day society.
He decided to use waste materials for his works, replacing paints and
brushes with means of expression that are not exactly consistent with the
"popular" idea of art. He doesn't merely make use of everyday waste,
such as PET bottles, paper, cardboard, aluminium, and so on, but also
turns his attention to finer materials such as packaging cardboard,
ceramic tiles, ropes, PVC pipes, duct tape and other materials used in
industry.
The main suppliers of material for his projects are construction waste
recycling and disposal centres, building sites and, above all, the
warehouses of paper converting industries.
Equally important to these suppliers of material are those urban spaces
made up of abandoned or disused buildings; all those places that are too
soon singled out for demolishment.
For some years now, his Atelier has become a kind of city in which he
lives and creates his works, developing a style and a technique that allow
him to interact with different environments, both private or public, while
preserving the leitmotif of his artistic production, thus giving his search
for balance and form a third dimension.
His works, whether executed with thousands of pieces of cardboard or
hundreds of meters of rope, tape or other materials, reveal a strong
conceptual connection with the passage of time and life itself.
ALEX DORICI AT THE LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL
At the 68th Locarno Film Festival Alex Dorici will create a project in Via
alla Ramogna, which is an important connection between the railway
station of Locarno and Piazza Grande, the Festival’s heart and soul.
Dorici’s new work is part of a wider set of projects called "Scotch
Drawing", made with masking tape in empty or abandoned spaces within
the cities. This material has been part of his work since the very
beginning. It is used by the artist to transfer his brushstrokes directly on
to the urban space by using the trace left from the masking tape as an
impression. The project starts from August 7. During the entire Festival
the artist will work with the Via alla Ramogna buildings at different times
of day and night to create geometric shapes with distorted perspectives.
This will recall the surrounding architecture and create a relationship
between the two-dimensional tape and three-dimensional space
High-definition pictures related to the Artist and his works are
downloadable by the following Dropbox link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3xccsm6b34a08ts/AADaddCOqyz8btMKge
MIMPjda?dl=0
Short URL: https://goo.gl/dE8Wff
www.alexdorici.ch