media contact - Istituto Italiano di Cultura San Francisco

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FERLINGHETTI, DRAWINGS FROM LIFE at the ITALIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE
An exhibition and other events celebrate the poet-painter Lawrence Ferlinghetti
SEPTEMBER 10 – OCTOBER 9, 2009
San Francisco, July 21, 2009 - The Italian Cultural Institute is proud to present a special
exhibition by one of San Francisco’s most prominent cultural figures.
Drawings from Life is a unique selection of works on paper by the poet-painter,
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from over 50 years of drawing live models; hence the exhibition’s
title.
A catalog of the exhibition Drawings from Life will be available for sale at the Institute.
The exhibition will be on view Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm at the Gallery of the Institute,
located at 425 Washington Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, 94111; admission is free.
The Opening Reception on September 10 will celebrate Lawrence Ferlinghetti with an
Award Ceremony during which the Consul General of Italy will confer to the artist the
official title of “Commendatore all’Ordine del Merito della Repubblica Italiana”.
Peter Selz, eminent art critic, will introduce the exhibit and Chris Felver’s documentary
Ferlinghetti will screen in the background as a part of the evening’s celebrations.
A Gala will immediately follow the Opening Reception and Award Ceremony at the
Italian Athletic Club located at 1630 Stockton Street, San Francisco, CA 94133. All
proceeds will support the Istituto Italiano Scuola in its mission to promote Italian
language and culture in the Bay Area. The Istituto Italiano Scuola is a non-profit and is
the only Italian language school in San Francisco officially recognized by the Italian
Cultural Institute. Admission to the Opening Reception and Gala is $85. For information
call Istituto Italiano Scuola at 415-788-0242.
“Being the first student of the Istituto Italiano Scuola, Lawrence has been supporting the
school since its foundation” says Amelia Carpenito Antonucci, Director of the IIC. “It is a
real honor and a very special occasion to be able to celebrate Lawrence Ferlinghetti for
both the School and the Institute”.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s monumental contribution to San Francisco’s cultural heritage will
also be celebrated by the Italian Cultural Institute with the presentation of Giada Diano’s
biography of Ferlinghetti entitled “Io sono come Omero”. The date of this presentation is
yet to be confirmed.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS (in chronological order)
EXHIBITION OPENING AND FUNDRAISING GALA
Thursday September 10
At the Italian Cultural Institute
6 pm: Check-in
7 pm: Award Ceremony
7:30 pm: Reception
At the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club
8 pm: Gala Dinner
EXHIBITION ON VIEW
Drawings from Life
Friday September 11 – Friday October 9, 2009
At the Italian Cultural Institute
Monday-Friday 9am-5pm. Open to the public.
BOOK PRESENTATION
“Io sono come Omero” A biography of Lawrence Ferlinghetti by Giada Diano
At the Italian Cultural Institute
Date tbd
About Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Leading literary figure of the Beat Generation, co-founder of City Lights - one of the most
iconic bookstores in the nation -, writer, publisher, and bestselling author of A Coney
Island of the Mind (New York: New Directions, 1958), among other works, Lawrence
Ferlinghetti is better known in the Bay Area for his great role in the literature scene.
Ferlinghetti is also an accomplished visual artist; he did his first drawings and paintings
at the Academy Julien in Paris in 1948. His first studio in San Francisco was acquired in
1953 from the painter Hassel Smith at 9 Mission Street where other San Francisco
figurative painters had studios, including Frank Lobdell and Edith Guttman. Since 1980
he has had a studio in Hunter’s Point Naval Shipyard.
His most important one-man exhibitions have been at the Butler Museum of American
Art, the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, and the Archivio Conz in Verona (Italy)
where he has been associated with the Fluxus movement.
He has also exhibited actively in art galleries across the U.S., including four solo shows
at the George Krevsky Gallery in San Francisco, the William Turner Gallery and the
Molly Barnes Gallery in Los Angeles, and the Anita Shapolsky Gallery in New York City.
This past year, he was included in The Third Mind: American Artists contemplate Asia at
the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
He is at present represented by George Krevsky Fine Arts at 77 Geary Street, San
Francisco, where he has had several shows during the last 15 years.
He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Letters and the French Ordre des
Arts et des Lettres.
A retrospective exhibition of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s paintings will be on view at the
Museo di Roma in Trastevere (Rome) in April-May 2010.
About the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco
The Istituto Italiano di Cultura of San Francisco promotes Italian language, culture and
the best of Italy in its assigned consular area (Northern California, Oregon, Washington,
Idaho, Utah, Montana, Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands) by disseminating
information about Italy, offering scholarships, and presenting cultural events including art
exhibitions, film screenings, concerts, lectures, book presentations, poetry readings,
round table discussions and other events. Its goal is to foster mutual understanding and
cultural cooperation between Italy and the United States. The Italian Cultural Institute of
San Francisco presents a rotating exhibition schedule, video and book libraries
containing Italian books, cds, dvds, journals and newspapers; and information and
documentation on cultural matters in Italy.
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CALENDAR EDITORS PLEASE LIST:
WHAT: Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Drawings from Life: Exhibition, Award Ceremony and
Gala
WHEN: Opening Reception and Gala Dinner September 10 starting at 6:30pm; on view
September 11 – October 9, 2009, Mon-Fri, 9am – 5pm
WHERE: Italian Cultural Institute, 425 Washington St, suite 200, San Francisco CA
94111
ADMISSION: $85 for the Opening Reception and Gala; free and open to the public from
September 11, 2009.
INFO: www.iicsanfrancisco.esteri.it; (415) 788-7142
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Robin Treasure, Italian Cultural Institute
Jessica Bazzoli, Italian Cultural Institute
415 788-7142, [email protected]