in memoriam: gabriella cardazzo
Gabriella Cardazzo.
Family friend Gabriella Cardazzo passed away in early August. The filmmaker, gallerist, and curator - before the profession emerged and became fashionable - has alongside her brother, Paolo Cardazzo, redefined what a contemporary art gallery can be.
Galleria del Cavallino established by their father, Carlo Cardazzo, created the unique gallery form that serves as a role model for many - with their support for art theory through their publishing activity, Edizioni del Cavallino, to launching of the careers of prominent and experimental artists such as Lucio Fontana and Tancredi with Leo Castelli and Peggy Guggenheim.
Gabriella took over the family business at a very young age and as she told me - found navigating the art world as a woman very difficult. Her brother Paolo joined the Scarpa-designed gallery, following his studies in 1965. Together they directed the space - where they presented the most avant-garde artists of the day from Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Ed Ruscha, Brian Eno, or Ida Applebroog - always seeking to create a wider dialogue with the public. Cardazzo siblings were also tireless supporters of Yugoslavian artists such as my grandfather Miroslav Šutej. Further, Galleria del Cavallino was one of the early spaces in Europe to support the presentation and development of video arts via Videotapes Cavalino and through working with prominent spaces dedicated to the then-emerging discipline such as art/tapes/22 led by Maria Gloria Biccochi or Palazzo del Diamanti directed by Lola Bonora. Following the gallery's closure, Gabriella continued her support for the arts via numerous projects such as with Trieste Contemporanea.
Cardazzos were artists - filmmakers at heart and they were always open for collaborations to support emerging artists. With art promoter and artist Richard Demarco in Edinburgh, they worked on his experimental summer school in Scotland, and with my grandparents and artists Miroslav Šutej and Marija Branka Šutej they co-created a summer residency for international artists in the times of the Cold War. The residency was called Motovun Encounters - after the small Istrian town where my grandparents were based and Cardazzos would often visit them. With Gabriella we started gathering the story and preparing the publication, The Motovun Encounters, of the joint artistic project created by friends - and I cannot express my gratitude for her guidance and teaching.
Lucija Šutej