The Bonotto Foundation

The Bonotto Foundation was established in the summer of 2013 in order to promote the Luigi Bonotto Collection and "aims at developing a new way of relating between art, business and contemporary culture at the international level."

Bonotto made his money in the textile business (see below image of Kanye West visiting the plant to examine samples) and has amassed a collection of artists' books and editions that is one of the most impressive private holdings in the world. In addition to unique works and editions, the collection contains ephemera and documentation, including periodicals, exhibition invitations, brochures and posters.

Bonotto's close friendship with many of the artists he collects means the archive also contains commissioned works, personal correspondence, and drafts for published and unpublished artists'  books and catalogues.

One of the Foundation’s main objectives is to open the collection up to curators, so that the works may be displayed publicly. To that end, a new exhibition titled Fluxbooks: From The Sixties to The Future, opens next month in Venice [see next post].

For more information, visit the foundation's site, here.

Bonotto is pictured above: with some works from the collection, at Ben Vautier's home, with Yoko Ono, with the late Dick Higgins, Anne Tardos, Geoffrey Hendricks, Jonas Mekas, Larry Miller, Richard Kostelanetz, Ben Patterson, Alison Knowles and Harry Ruhe.