This exhibition, co-presented by the Palazzo Grassi, Venice, and later to tour to the MCA in Chicago, explores Italian art and creativity from the late 1960s to the present. It offers an unprecedented look at the artistic production of a country where cultural change has often been defined by the persistence of the past, revealing a deep sense of originality and vitality on the part of numerous artists whose work spans all media.
Maurizio Cattelan, 'Felix', 2001.
Whether embracing classical roots or breaking away from traditions, Italian artists active during the past forty years are at ease both with the fragmented languages of the present and the realities of social transformation. Reflecting the idiosyncratic paths carved by Italian artists and resisting the artificiality of groupings and movements such as Arte Povera, the project attempts to counter a tendency within Italian culture to curb individuality and experimentation.
This exhibition is guest curated by Francesco Bonami. ' "Italics" is an inquiry meant to piece back together where and when some of the carriages of this Italian train have been detached from the locomotive and diverted onto dead tracks,' Bonami says, highlighting the conceptual breadth of the show's approach to re-defining just what and who were and are the key factors, players and conversations in the highly-politicized Italian art scene of the last forty years, a period spanning two artistic generations.
From Domenico Gnoli's paintings to Renato Guttuso's collages, from constructions by Maria Lai to Margherita Manzelli's delicate drawings, from Nanni Balestrini's text pieces to Patrick Tuttofuoco's dazzling light installations, 'Italics' gathers 250 works by 100 artists and weaves the familiar with the less obvious but significant. It is not just an exhibition about art made in Italy but, more importantly, demonstrates how these artists have forged new identities from deep roots blossoming in many different directions.
'ITALICS: ITALIAN ART BETWEEN TRADITION AND REVOLUTION, 1968-2008'
To 22 March, 2009
Palazzo Grassi, Venice
and later at the MCA, Chicago, 11 July- 25 Oct 2009 |
