The 2019 edition of “Costasera Contemporary Art” speaks Chinese, the artistic project of Masi

The theme of travel and nature, symbolized by the waves of the sea and butterflies: is “Jin Du”, which in ancient Chinese means “crossing by ferry”, or “transport by water”, the title of the work of the artist He Xi, director of the research laboratory and artistic creation of the Chinese Academy of Painting in Shanghai, author of refined paintings on silk and rice paper, has exhibited in major museums and group exhibitions around the world, for the project “Costasera Contemporary Art”, which, since 2013, every year calls an artist of world renown to “dress” the Amarone Costasera, one of the symbols of the wine of the historical reality of Valpolicella (in recent years names such as Ernst Billgren, Maya Von Moos and Susan A. Point ).
“The subject of the work is the waves and butterflies that fly over the ocean like a rainbow that connects the shores of the sea. I chose the butterfly - explained He Xi - because the Masi winery is located in Verona, the birthplace of Romeo and Juliet, a love story known all over the world. Another inspiration was the story of Marco Polo, who brought Chinese porcelain and silk to the West. For this reason, I decided to paint on silk, a fabric that represents softness, beauty, and oriental elegance. Instead, as a technique, I used the art of meticulous, traditional Chinese brushstrokes, along with the Xieyi style (free brushstrokes). The ripples of the sea are in the style of free brushstroke while the butterflies are in the meticulous style of Chinese painting. I really appreciated the collaboration with Masi and the importer ASC Fine Wines, it was the premise for a meeting between the magical Chinese arts and Italian culture”.
“Wine and art have much in common. Both express the culture and the millennial history of a people and both generate emotions. From the meeting between great international artists and our symbolic wine Costasera Amarone - explained Raffaele Boscaini, marketing director of Masi - “Costasera Contemporary Art” is born, which also involves young artists through the allocation of scholarships”.
The work will then be reproduced on the labels of a historic vintage of Amarone, 2001, and offered for sale to collectors. The proceeds from the sale of the bottles of Costasera Contemporary Art will be used to finance a scholarship, allowing a young Chinese artist to make a formative experience in Italy in a context of excellence.
The first edition of the Costasera Contemporary Art was presented in 2013 in Stockholm, with the pictorial work “Nature and Culture” by one of the most respected contemporary Swedish artists, Ernst Billgren, then reproduced on the labels of a selection of bottles of the Costasera vintage 1998.
For the second edition the Swiss artist Maya von Moos was selected and his innovative artistic expression, 3D animation, with the work “The Metamorphosis of Matter” adapted to dress the bottles of the Costasera vintage 1999.
For the third edition, Canadian artist Susan A. Point adorned the bottles of the Costasera vintage 2000 with the work “Traditional Legacy”, in which she incorporated abstract and figurative motifs, intending to merge cultures and represent the native people of Canada and Italy.