Köping 2013: The Circus at the Settimane Italiane of the Galleri Quirinus

From 19 January to 1 February 2013 the Galleri Quirinus in Köping, Sweden, hosted the Settimane Italiane: eighty Italian artists and around one hundred and ten works. The gallery, on Torggatan, had opened in August 2012, and for its owners, Riccardo Baldelli and Elisa Bastiani, it was the largest exhibition they had put on up to then.

Davide was among the artists, with The Circus: a clown in a top hat and green gloves against the colours of the Italian flag, painted on canvas in 2011. It was Davide’s first exhibition in Europe outside Italy, and the first time he had accompanied one of his works abroad.

On 16 January Davide and Giuseppe set off from Martina Franca and flew from Bari to Bergamo. After a day in the city, on the 17th they landed at Stockholm Skavsta airport. Snow was waiting for them.

Davide and Giuseppe Cristofaro with their luggage outside the arrivals entrance of a Swedish airport

The day before the opening, the Bärgslagsbladet/Arboga Tidning devoted two pages to the exhibition, with a photo of the gallerists unpacking the parcels that had arrived from Italy.

Åttio konstnärer på en utställning…

Vi har konstnärer från de italienska alperna ner till Sicilien.

Eighty artists in one exhibition…

We have artists from the Italian Alps down to Sicily.

Riccardo Baldelli, Bärgslagsbladet/Arboga Tidning, 18 January 2013

The two pages of the Bärgslagsbladet/Arboga Tidning of 18 January 2013 on the Galleri Quirinus exhibition in Köping

On Saturday 19 January, from 11 am to 3 pm, the gallery opened its doors. The Circus hung in the black room, beside the entrance. On the plinth in front of the work Davide left his Art and Fashion catalogue and a few leaflets; the catalogue also contained the interview “When I create, I live” published in ExtraMagazine.

The black room of the Galleri Quirinus with The Circus beside the entrance and the works on the walls

Davide Cristofaro’s Art and Fashion catalogue open at the ExtraMagazine interview, in front of the Köping sign

During the opening Davide and Giuseppe met the gallerists and the visitors.

Davide Cristofaro with gallerist Elisa Bastiani and two guests at the Galleri Quirinus opening

Davide Cristofaro with gallerists Riccardo Baldelli and Elisa Bastiani and two artists in the black room of the Galleri Quirinus

Davide received the certificate of participation signed by Riccardo Baldelli for Maecenas Italy Art.

The certificate of participation in the Settimane Italiane in Köping in Davide Cristofaro’s name, for the work The Circus

Alongside The Circus, Davide had brought one of his hand-painted silk scarves to Sweden. On the morning of 20 January he unfolded it in Köping’s square, in front of the church and the town hall.

Davide Cristofaro’s hand-painted orange and yellow silk scarf in Köping’s snowy square, in front of the church and the town hall

Before returning to Italy, Davide and Giuseppe spent a few days in Stockholm. Beside Carl Eldh’s “Dansen”, on the Stadshuset waterfront, the water of Riddarfjärden was frozen.