LAUGHS/TSH Comedy Club: Matteo Lane
October 24, 9.30pm
The Student Hotel, viale Spartaco Lavagnini 70-72, Florence
Splashy complex and community center The Student Hotel has a new series set to revive Florence’s standup comedy scene. The TSH Comedy Club’s inaugural event will feature Chicago-born, New York-based comedian Matteo Lane, a central figure on Comedy Central’s The Comedy Jam who’s also recently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Lane’s colorful past includes a stint in Italy as an oil painter and opera singer, experiences slightly distinct from his Snapchat series “Ghost Hunt,” in which he tracks down exes who’ve “ghosted” their former partners. Opening act for this free entry show, held in collaboration with Aguilar Entertainment, is Francesco de Carlo. Register on EventBrite to attend.
Note to print readers: This show was listed under the incorrect date in TF249; please refer to the official EventBrite for finalized program details.
EXPLORE/Open Week: Villa La Pietra
Ongoing until October 20
Villa La Pietra, via Bolognese 120, Florence
Open Week at Villa La Pietra is a rare chance to explore the grounds of NYU Florence’s sprawling campus, formerly the residence of British scholar and writer Sir Harold Acton and family. Free guided visits (with required reservations) will run throughout the week in both English and Italian, led by staff and scholars who know the collections up and down. Beyond the lush scenery, noteworthy rooms, and permanent art collections, visitors will also have the chance to see the current exhibition Harold in China, 1932-39: Photographs from the Acton Collection, which features not only photography but also books, sculptures, decorative objects and a Chinese robe that once belonged to the prominent Anglo-Italian family. To schedule a visit, call 055.5007210 or email villa.lapietra@nyu.edu.
SURREAL/Mirografia
October 19-November 11
Fornaciai Art Gallery, borgo San Jacopo 53r, Florence
Surrealist Catalan artist Joan Miró is the subject of the newest exhibition at Galleria Fornaciai, Mirografia, which will focus on his graphic works produced between 1961 and 1976. Hailing from a family of artisans and adopting a boundary-pushing, anti-bourgeoisie mindset, Miró evolved substantially throughout his career, with Fauvist influence in his early works and a sparer approach to the works on show in this exhibition. At publication of this article, further details about the show are still forthcoming; the vernissage will take place on Friday, October 19 at 6pm. For more information, see www.fornaciaiartgallery.com.
STREET/Banksy: This is Not a Photo Opportunity
October 19-February 24, 2019
Palazzo Medici Riccardi, via Cavour 3, Florence
However you may feel about “blockbuster” street artist Banksy, few art world figures have managed to accomplish such notoriety under the cloak of anonymity. This is Not a Photo Opportunity will feature a selection of 20 of the street artist’s most famous and memorable works, made accessible to the masses via social media and chosen by curators Gianluca Marziani and Stefano S. Antonelli as some of the artist’s most emblematic productions. With the Renaissance Palazzo Medici Riccardi as an unexpected backdrop, these works are once again primed to provoke. For more information see www.cittametropolitana.fi.it.
Coming up…
HALLOWEEN/FrankenReads
October 25-31
Harold Acton Library, lungarno Guicciardini 9, Florence
Just in time for Halloween, literary hubs and haunted houses the world over are preparing to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s early sci-fi masterpiece Frankenstein in initiatives coordinated by the Keats-Shelley Association of America. The British Institute of Florence is a partner of this international “FrankenReads” event and will host several Halloween-week happenings highlighting Shelley’s novel’s enduring legacy. Kicking off FrankenReads in Florence is a Shelley-inspired “Storytime” in the children’s section of the library (October 25, 5pm); an adapted version will be read aloud, with a mask-making workshop to follow. Halloween afternoon (October 31, 4pm) brings a public reading of the original novel, followed by an 8pm screening of the 1931 film Frankenstein, a horror classic (open to library members only; 24-hour memberships are available). For more information, see www.frankenreads.org and www.britishinstitute.it.
