Paris – Paolo Conte. Original is the title of the first Paris exhibition entirely dedicated to the visual art of the celebrated singer-songwriter from Asti. Curated by Manuela Furnari, essayist and author of some of the most authoritative critical studies on Conte’s work, the exhibition is promoted by the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris and Arthemisia, in collaboration with the Egle and Paolo Conte Foundation and Rea Edizioni Musicali. The initiative originated with the Asti Musei Foundation and is supported by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Asti. Opening today, June 8, in the presence of the curator and Arthemisia president Iole Siena, the exhibition brings together 70 works on paper created by Paolo Conte over nearly seven decades, from 1957 to 2023, the year he was invited to exhibit at Florence’s Uffizi Galleries. At the heart of the exhibition is a collection of previously unseen works alongside a carefully selected group of illustrations from Razmataz, the ambitious multimedia project entirely conceived, written, composed and illustrated by Conte. Set in the vibrant yet melancholic Paris of the 1920s, Razmataz tells the story of a dancer’s mysterious disappearance while celebrating the arrival of a new musical force in Europe: American jazz. The exhibition offers an intimate and unexpected portrait of an artist best known as one of the defining voices of Italian songwriting. Behind his celebrated musical career, Conte has long nurtured a private and deeply personal commitment to visual art, developing his skills as both painter and illustrator while maintaining a lifelong dialogue with images and drawing. (9colonne)