Stefano Arienti's (b. 1961 Italy) work is philosophical, intellectually vibrant, and carries with it a strong element of compassion. A talented draftsman, Arienti incorporates and manipulates simple, everyday objects in surprising and unusual ways. Books, rugs, table tops, newspapers and posters are transformed through a minimal gesture like folding, sewing, tracing, dying and puncturing. In doing so, he subverts the visual clichés of popular culture.

Arienti has shown extensively in worldwide, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, IL; the Centre d'Art Contemporain, Geneva; the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea; the ICA, London; ArtPace, Texas; the Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Museo Di Palazzo Ducale, Venice; Hara Museum, Japan; Maxxi Museum, Rome; and the 7th Gwangju Biennale, curated by Okwui Enwezor. In 2005, the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin presented a major retrospective of Arienti's work. His work has also been featured in the Milano Europa 2000 Triennial and the Third International Istanbul Biennial. Stefano Arienti lives and works in Milan.

Stefano Arienti first came to the Gardner in 2004 and spent time exploring the Japanese collection as well as digital photographs of the installation and objects of Mrs. Gardner's Second Chinese Room. He returned in the fall of 2006 to continue his research in the archives and to give a Noontime Talk about his work. Arienti became interested in the "Catalogue of Asian Objects". These binders compiled by Kojiro Tomita, Curator of the Asiatic Department, MFA, Boston (1931-1963) and his nephew Shunichiro Tomita in 1927, contain drawings and descriptions of Gardner's Asian collection. During his visit the conservation team was preparing for Journeys East, an upcoming exhibition about Mrs. Gardner's trip to Asia. Arienti was able to get an intimate look at the tea set Okakura Kakuzo bequeathed to Isabella Gardner as well as other objects being considered for the show.

Through out the next year Arienti worked in his studio with the materials he collected while at the Gardner Museum. The result was The Asian Shore, an installation about discovery and making visible things that have been forgotten or are rarely seen. Arienti positioned new drawings, photocopies of the binder drawings, rugs that he dyed black and red, and a rarely viewed set of 17th century Japanese sliding doors (fusuma) of the Rimpa School from the Collection in a way that involved the viewer in a meditative journey, an exploration of drawing, the Museum's Asian collection, and of Isabella Gardner's own sense of space and time. Visitors were invited to take off their shoes, sit on the rugs and become part of the environment that Arienti created. Okwui Enwezor, curator of the 7th Gwangju Biennale (2008) in South Korea, invited Arienti to install this exhibition at the Uijae Art Gallery Museum. Arienti also created an artist book to accompany the exhibition. The Asian Shore, published by Charta Ed, brought together various works by the artist with works from the exhibition.

In 2012, the museum celebrated the completion of a new building and of several preservation projects. Arienti was invited to produce the first project for the museum's new exhibition space on the Evan’s Way façade. Arienti created a bright red Ailanthus, also known as the Tree-of-Heaven, a fast-growing tree and a prolific seeder with an extensive root system. Ailanthus will remain until June when it will be exchanged for another drawing by Arienti.

Arienti also created Libro Azzurro, a guest book for the new Living Room for the inaugural year. Incorporating his own drawings, the book invites visitors to contribute their comments, anecdotes, and imaginative gestures to its pages. These entries will forever capture the opening year of the new wing.

The Asian Shore