illy issimo and the School of Visual Arts

illy issimo and the School of Visual Arts come together for the photography project

illy issimo presents “AuthentiCity”: a photography project conceived in cooperation with the School of Visual Arts (SVA), New York, aimed at young international artists who are SVA students or alumni.

The project theme – “Revealing authenticity and purity in urban life” – is an invitation to use the straightforward language of photography to explore signs of authenticity and purity in the urban setting.

The initiative will be presented on the occasion of the Milan Design Week 2010 (Salone del Mobile), from April 14th to 19th, through an open photography exhibition in the Tortona neighbourhood of Milan, at the T35 @ Nhow Hotel (Via Tortona 35, Milan), where the first twenty works selected in the preliminary stage of the project will be on display. The exhibition, to be inaugurated on April 13th, will remain open to the public throughout the Milan Design Week, every day from 10.00 am to 9.00 pm.

On this occasion, the names of five out of twenty photographers are short listed to continue the project. Their five works will be displayed in a dedicated section of the exhibition at the Zona Tortona. The authors will receive a cash prize of $3,000 each.

The photo exhibition in Milan marks the first stage of the photography project that stemmed from illy issimo’s partnership with SVA, with the aim of celebrating and supporting young emerging talents.

After the week in Milan, the “AuthentiCity” project will be further developed in the next two stages. The five authors selected during stage one will receive a further brief on the same topic, leading to a new body of work to be presented by September 2010. The works of the five photographers will be shown at a final exhibition to be held in New York next fall.

During the New York exhibition, the project winner’s name will be announced; the winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000, as well as an assignment from ILKO Coffee International (the Joint Venture between illycaffè and the Coca-Cola Company which produces illy issimo) to execute an original photography project on a new theme.