Art, luxury and philanthropy meet at the Visible Award 2011

What’s the connection between luxury and the arts? Creativity, workmanship and aesthetics are three qualities that come to mind. Whatever the link, with the recent opening of a stunning art gallery belonging to Francois Pinault, boss of PPR and the ambitions of Bernard Arnault of LVMH to create something even more spectacular, art and luxury are increasingly closely connected.

  Already well established in this area is Ermenegildo Zegna and last week saw the 2011 winner announced of the Visible Award, a joint commitment of this luxury menswear house and the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto.

  "Especially in the last 20 years visual arts has inspired fashion," said Anna Zegna, Image Director of Ermenegildo Zegna. "But our collaboration with Michelangelo goes a bit further because he has always been participating in an artistic movement that has an impact on civil society. Zegna has always believed that there is a big impact that you have on society by improving living conditions, by educating and inspiring people and also by protecting the environment. Back in the forties my grandfather was one of the first to become involved in this patronage."

The Serpentine Gallery

  The winner of the award, announced at the Serpentine Gallery, was Helena Producciones, a festival conceived and run by local artists in the town of Cali, Columbia. The judges, who included Ute Meta Bauer, Associate Professor and Director of the Visual Arts Program at MIT (Cambridge) and Andrea Zegna of the philanthropic Fondazione Zegna, were impressed by the combination of artistic practices and involvement of the local community in this project.

  The Visible collaboration was born of out the common commitment of Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto and the Fondazione Zegna to amass a wealth of experience and information from artistic practices that work “for responsible change.”

  As luxury companies seek to put something back into society and to brush up their CSR credentials as well as demonstrating their commitments to the arts, the Visible Award offers an excellent opportunity to do both – as the people of Cali, would no doubt agree.