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Vinavil with Baj at Palazzo Reale in Milan

The exhibition "BAJ. BajchezBaj" celebrates the artist who used the white glue to create his polymateric works

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Enrico Baj

October 7, 2024

Vinavil, the historic Italian chemical brand belonging to the Mapei Group, is proud to be a sponsor of the exhibition "BAJ. BajchezBaj" dedicated to Enrico Baj, a pillar of the Milanese art scene in the 1950s and one of the masters of the Italian and international neo-avant-garde. The exhibition will be held in Milan at Palazzo Reale from 8 October 2024 to 9 February 2025. The event is promoted and produced by the Municipality of Milano-Cultura and Palazzo Reale with Electa.

One hundred years after his birth, Milan celebrates the multifaceted figure of an artist who became part of the Italian contemporary art scene. He recognized the potential of Vinavil glue, created in the 1940s, as early as the 1960s, even going so far as to call it "a true discovery of the century” ¹.

“Modern technology provides me with Vinavil, a marvelous glue that sticks to everything, that binds and holds everything, even memories, even dust, even honours and dishonours," wrote Baj in May 1966. “I plaster everything onto the canvas loves, sorrows, bellyaches, medals, lace, plaques and mirrors, broken mirrors within which my image breaks and so I like it more” ².

The exhibition project, curated by Chiara Gatti and Roberta Cerini Baj and presented at Palazzo Reale in the monumental Sala delle Cariatidi, brings together fifty works that span the artist's phases of exploration and involvement in the various movements that have followed over time. An artist who, throughout his long career, has made the iconic 'white glue' the medium through which he creates his works.

Baj's distinctive feature is his polymateric and colourful works featuring characters that have now entered the collective imagination such as the Dames, the Generals, the Ultrabodies, the Mirrors, the Furniture and the Monsters of the Apocalypse. In his writings, the artist states that he creates his works with the technique of collage assembling disparate materials, using vinyl glue, describing it as “portentous”.

Vinavil believes that the strength of a company lies not only in its products and innovation, but also in its commitment to culture and community. The company's support for the Enrico Baj's exhibition perfectly embodies the combination of these elements. Love for art and the territory have, always been part of the DNA of the entire Mapei Group, which for over 85 years has been contributing to the promotion and conservation of the Italian and international artistic heritage through cultural initiatives and projects.

¹ E. Baj, Autodamé. Collages e scritture, Cappelli, Bologna 1980

² E. Baj, Automitobiografia, Johan & Levi, ed. 2018

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