The eighth edition of the COMEL Vanna Miglior in Contemporary Art Award reaches a milestone: after about a year of competition, extended due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the jury of experts selected the 13 finalists.

Thirteen names that represent a large part of Italy and a small part of the European continent, artists differ in age, experiences and paths, but they have all been able, with different facets, to enhance aluminium and decline the theme of this edition: Aluminium Bonds.

A very heartfelt theme especially in this period because it recalls the closest relationships, those that have been largely limited or banned for us in the last year. A theme that refers to one of the main characteristics of aluminium: that is, the high ability to bind to other elements, it is never found alone in nature. The artists were asked “to play” with the theme, to combine aluminium with other materials or to enhance it communicating their idea of ​​the Bond. Many artists replied, hundreds were willing to share, in a period in which museums and cultural spaces were closed, what united the experts, the public, and the artists was the passion for art, the love for beauty and the desire to meet and share emotions, knowledge, experiences.

Unfortunately, the time to meet has not yet arrived, the current health conditions do not allow to organize an exhibition safely, in the presence of artists from different regions and countries. The hope is to be able to do so, as soon as possible this year.

The dates of the final exhibition of the eighth edition of the COMEL Aluminium Bonds Award will be promptly communicated, in the meantime the Organizers are pleased to announce the names of the 13 finalists: Mariangela Calabrese – Italy, Alatri (FR) – installation; Ana Celdrán Beltrán – Spain, Murcia – sculpture; Penelope Chiara Cocchi – Italy, Bologna – installation; Michele D’Agostino – Italy, Monza Brianza – installation; Gennaro De Martino – Italy, Naples – installation; Niko Kapa – Greece / Great Britain, London – sculpture; Luciana Penna – Italy, Milan – sculpture; Fabrizio Pedrali – Italy, Palazzuolo (BS) – installation; Paolo Pompei – Italy, Pesaro Urbino – sculpture; Rosella Restante – Italy, Rome – installation; Mirella Saluzzo – Italy, Ravenna – installation; The Bounty Killart – Italy, Turin – sculpture; Marcello Trabucco – Italy, Latina – installation.

The jurors: president of the jury Giorgio Agnisola, art critic and writer, professor of sacred art at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy; Elena Pontiggia, art critic, professor of Contemporary Art History at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts; Marcello Francolini art critic, independent curator, professor of Contemporary Art History at the Academy of Fine Arts in Reggio Calabria; Vincenzo Lieto, curator and artistic director of the Pinacoteca di Gaeta (LT); the entrepreneur and manager Maria Gabriella Mazzola owner with her family of CO.ME.L., the only company promoter and sponsor of the COMEL Award.