On the occasion of the publication of the volume, Rotella by Germano Celant, Skira Editore, 2007, the Marconi Foundation is pleased to present a selection of works ranging from 1950 to 1990, in collaboration with the Mimmo Rotella Foundation.
This initiative follows the international preview of the monograph devoted to Mimmo Rotella by Germano Celant and published by Skira upon initiative of the Mimmo Rotella Foundation that was hosted last June at the Fondation Beyeler in Basel, with the aim of presenting the volume to the Italian public.
The book, composed of 592 pages, 910 colour illustrations and 340 in b/w, retraces, step by step, the artist’s creative path from 1946 to 2005.
Recognised as an important exponent of the Nouveaux Réalistes group, from 1953 Rotella created “décollages” on canvas in tune with Rauschenberg's “combine paintings”.
Struck by the posters he saw on the walls of the Piazza del Popolo in Rome he began to appropriate them, rip them and glue them directly on canvas. Once attached to the support, he worked on them further on the front and/or back.
As well as a clear expression of dissent against traditional painting, the gesture of tearing the posters was a way for Rotella to take control of an aspect of reality and it has marked art history at an international level.
Among the works on display there will be a selection of “geometric compositions” from 1950, some décollages from 1954-55, the retro d’affiches, the artypos, and two-big sized works, a “blank” from 1980 and an overpainting on metal sheet, La lezione di anatomia, 1987.
An area of the exhibition will be entirely dedicated to Rotella's "phonetic poems" (1949-1970) recited by the artist himself.
