PREDA - Italy
Contacts: info@predart.it Facebook: Danilo Preto LinkedIn: Danilo Preto
Instagram: danilo.preto.50 Twitter: Danilopreto4
"FIDELIO" opera created on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of
Ludwig van Beethoven in 2020
Plush toy
Fidelio
Present by existential subtraction
Swivel base, glass, metal, plush, cm 27 x 14.5 2021
Plush toy
Fidelio
Fidelio
seen from above
Plush toy
Fidelio
Present by existential subtraction
seen from above
Video made during the exhibition in Venice July 2022
PREDA: THE MANIFESTO
Humanity navigates life together, aware or unaware of who we are and why we are here. Have we created our world or do we suffer a third world? Either way, it is our universe that we think we know but that we know well does not fully belong to us. Often the fiction is continuous. We believe we possess, to be able to command, to do, to fit in, to be able to, to be good, to love, to read, to know, to memorize, to use, ... That is, to live our way in our world; the one we think we have created, chosen. Or as we are allowed? Or imposed. All true, now, but all unstable, changeable. Not necessarily because of our fault or will. TODAY does not apply to tomorrow and tomorrow will be invented, by now, today. We must defend it, command it or we will be overwhelmed by fear, wickedness, oppression, thirst, hunger, desire, uncertainty about our health, anxiety about the future. Sometimes by relationships. If not now, tomorrow. Or maybe already today. The uncertain is our TODAY of now. Following the wave of life to which it is difficult to oppose, perhaps impossible, we flounder incredulous and uncertain. The counterpoint? Of course, it exists; it is the joys of life. Love, the beauty of nature, the (equally) ephemeral goods that run on the ground we tread, it is the earth that we still exploit brutally for a group interest (or of power). Better then to keep a memory, a trace; ours. Or to erase even all this. And, if we want to keep it, ok. Even in part? Yes, but which memory. We must select by choosing when, how, where, why to remember. Without second thoughts, perhaps with tenderness, cuddled by those memories or with anger, for missed opportunities, the passing time that we cannot stop, that leaves us without strength; translating everything into a destructive ferocity. To abandon lightly or remember with pain or perhaps with contempt a moment also already passed but that fixes a firm point. For better or for worse. Date, time, place, actor, tools, documentation .... To start again, for a world that will be something else, something different. More beautiful, better, uglier, better, worse. We will see. In the meantime, we trace, we leave a mark. Our mind is perpetually in motion. It never stops. It processes, holds back, chases, reaches, lets itself be overtaken. Recovers. You can't reset it! When you least expect it, it reappears, even for just a moment, to make you laugh or cry, meditate or decide, rethink or do. It's like waking up from a comatose state and discovering that we have crossed over. We find ourselves, sometimes brutally, somewhere else. Often in another Self. Or in another world. There can be a synthesis for all this; a representation. Certainly! Let's reflect. Let's condense. Let's start. We work on a translation by creating a cycle of symbolic works that draw inspiration from this uncultivated, and that become:
WORKS FOR EXISTENTIAL SUBTRACTION
Works/objects to be “sacrificed” on the altar of utilitarian denialism or real uselessness. To destroy/significantly modify, but partially, an object that represents itself (icons, everyday objects, but also works of art, ...) inserting it into the new descriptive context, leaving readable/recognizable the name of the author of the work or the object to be “repudiated”, indicating the possible number of the “multiple of idea” (not an idem), to be applied on the new altar. Whether it is support or container or scene. However, always keeping a fragment of the original as a readable testimony of its past. These are structural elements of what thus becomes a performance. The “new” object/art must be accompanied by a precise description of the event that is realized in the production of the work, which will thus become a unicum, with the indication of the initial number of pieces subject to deconstruction, dimensions, materials, date of execution, pamphlet with description of the artistic movement and the meaning/inspiring value of the work with photos of the piece(s) before the artistic action and after.
About his Art
Danilo Preto (PREDA)
Danilo Preto, known as PREDA, was born in Vicenza in 1950 and after studying Political Science at the University of Padua, began his professional career working in advertising, communication, publishing, and editorial management.
At the beginning of the 1990s, he organized the first seven editions of Vicenza Arte in partnership with the Vicenza Trade Fair Authority, hosted in its pavilions, welcoming the most important Italian galleries and creating numerous collateral exhibitions dedicated to Italian and international artists. He also supported some groups of emerging artists. This activity was followed by two editions of Arte Udine.
In 1991, he met an important Italian large-scale retail company, where he became Director of Communication and Marketing as well as Head of political/institutional relations. He brought with him his experience in organizing art events, using artists who had collaborated with his artistic events for commercial and promotional billboards and packaging.
Thanks to his involvement, important ethical projects dedicated to children were carried out: the "Children's Village" in Ethiopia, a pediatric cardiac surgery center at the University Pediatric Hospital in Damascus, and the new Cardiac Center in Cameroon for children with congenital heart diseases.
A journalist registered since 1978, he is the author and co-author of articles and volumes dedicated to retail and market scenarios. He has also written several study and popular science books on the nature of the Vicenza area. Former member of the Board of Directors of the "City of Vicenza" Municipal Theatre Foundation.
Former Vice President of both Confimprese and the Italian Federation of Retailers.
In January 2013, he became a member of the Executive Committee of Federdistribuzione, a position later reconfirmed for the following three years.
In 2007, and for four years, he held the position of CEO of Vicenza Calcio S.p.A., and also became President during the 2010/2011 sports season.
His relationship with the art world has always been part of his nature, both as a cultural enthusiast and as a collector. Now, under the pseudonym PREDA, he proves it again with a "Manifesto" that starts from the awareness of a world in which definitions disappear to make way for a mix of outcomes inspired by the premise of his "MANIFESTO".
The interview with Danilo Preto
From Manager to Creative
In the multimedia village of our era, we meet Danilo Preto from Vicenza, born in 1950, marketing expert and creative, graduate in Political Science, today he can be identified as a multifaceted, chameleon-like, and captivating figure, who thanks to his qualities as a communicator finds a new path to follow and pursue: Art.
He himself tells us how his passion for contemporary art was born, and in a pleasant conversation he gives us a beautiful interview ready to fascinate the reader who loves beauty.
Carmelita Brunetti: How did your years of managerial experience bring you closer to the world of artists?
It's a story that starts a long time ago. Let's say that I brought the world of artists closer to the world of entrepreneurship. For example, I used a wonderful watercolorist from Verona to illustrate the promotions that took place within the retail world. In this way, it was clear that everything became distinguishable.
Carmelita Brunetti: How did your passion for contemporary art begin?
It started from my first professional activity. By hosting the greatest galleries in exhibition spaces at trade fairs, I had the opportunity to engage with the most significant threads of this world. From there, a patronage phase also began, which helped provide a new pragmatic vision of art.
Carmelita Brunetti: Tell us about a project that personally involved you in organizing a cultural and artistic event?
If I may, I would like to mention two. “New Frontier of Art?” dedicated to video art, held at Villa Farsetti in Santa Maria di Sala (presented by Lucia Majer) when Italy was discovering this new frontier. The second is “FORMA” (Forum of Artistic Events) presented by the critic Umberto Daniele and dedicated to sculpture, with three editions.
Carmelita Brunetti: Tell us about your first creative moment?
As you can guess, I have never abandoned contact with the art world. Curious by nature, interested in new expressions, and eager to explore new horizons, now I am trying to “launch/suggest” a Manifesto…
Tell us about your Manifesto dedicated to creativity, what are its main points?
It's a bit complex to explain but I'll try to summarize. Our world is absolutely liquid. There is (almost) nothing that allows us to establish certain, lasting foundations.
Without forgetting to try to live the beauty of life, we also realize how ephemeral our existence is. So it's better to keep a memory, a trace. After all, we can never completely erase memory. Thus are born “works by existential subtraction” that give rise to a new world in which we try to overcome, even if only partially, our past. Always present as an icon, but always with the hope of writing a new chapter in our life. Without forgetting where we come from. In any case, as mentioned, memory always resurfaces.
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