An exhibition in Cortina d'Ampezzo investigates the perennial metamorphosis of Neo Pop

At the Mario Rimoldi Museum of Modern Art in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the exhibition Neo Pop opened to the public from December 5, 2024 to April 21, 2025: Perennial Metamorphosis of a Myth, a group exhibition curated by Giorgio Chinea Canale di that highlights the activities of a group of 15 artists belonging to the Neo Pop artistic current and for years engaged in complex research on the new figuration of immediate language, capable in the contemporary world of addressing an increasingly wide audience.

The exhibition, set up on the first two floors of the Museum, features some of the most representative of the art scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s of the last century, including Marco Lodola, Gianni Cella, and those who have entered the third millennium such as Giuseppe Veneziano, Francesco De Molfetta, Fulvia Mendini, Andy Bluvertigo, Pao, Giovanni Motta, Laurina Paperina and The Bounty Killart, with the participation of two very young artists, Waro and Erk14 and the international presence of Tomoko Nagao, Gabriel Ortega and Albert Pinya. The review intends to shine a spotlight on a group of artists who are children of what critics call the Mtv generation, authors who have been influenced by theaesthetics of the music video clip and everything happy and impactful that came to us from those years. This art form draws from a variety of universes: cinema, animation, television, fashion, comics, underground culture and manages to interweave these influences with elevated and cultured references, drawing inspiration from the great masterpieces of literature and art history. Among the works on display, three are part of the Museum’s collection: the canvas chosen as the representative image of the 1969 Life exhibition, created by painter Vincenzo Marano and acquired by Mario Rimoldi in the last phase of his collecting adventure; Mimmo Rotella ’s 1994 work Le attese; and Aldo Borgonzoni’s 1973 City of Cosmos.

The exhibition route

Opening Neo Pop: perennial metamorphosis of a myth are two artists who have been able to give Pop art a personal and original interpretation: Marco Lodola and Gianni Cella. The former, known for his light sculptures, transmits the energy of light to the vast pop imagery with essential and immediate works. Cella, on the other hand, with his critical and satirical approach, tackles power-related themes while maintaining a light and reflective style. They are joined by Giuseppe Veneziano, who is able to bring the ancient and the contemporary into dialogue in a continuous play between high and low registers. Fulvia Mendini, on the other hand, combines influences from graphic design and Arts and Crafts, evoking fairy-tale worlds inspired by the Nordic oral tradition. Giovanni Motta, through his alter ego JonnyBoy, enhances the genius of childhood with nostalgic and profound works. The review also includes Laurina Paperina, who creates parallel universes with irreverent language close to comics and video games. Francesco De Molfetta stands out for his ironic and revealing iconographies, which play with nonsense to reveal the vices and virtues of the present.

Finally, Pao represents the street side with works with a surrealist flavor, in which modification, metamorphosis and innovation are intertwined in a continuous stream of transformation. Prominent among the protagonists is Andy Bluvertigo, a multifaceted artist who enhances female beauty through vibrant fluorescent imagery. The duo The Bounty Killart revisits classicism in a contemporary key, with striking works that oscillate between solemn and provocative tones. Waro, a young anthropologist, introduces the audience to a future populated by the Yu, enigmatic creatures up to three meters tall, resulting in an urban pop imbued with mysticism and prophetic visions. ERK14, on the other hand, explores the apparent chaos of everyday objects, transforming them into surrealist compositions with great visual appeal. The international dimension is enriched with Tomoko Nagao, from Japan, who proposes a complex and layered art inspired by Superflat, with a marked satirical vein. Gabriel Ortega, with his refined style narrates an ideal universe made up of paradisiacal visions that pay homage to his homeland. From Palma de Mallorca comes Albert Pinya, who creates a fantastic and dynamic world inspired by cartoons, films and literature, through a poetics that combines apparent simplicity and narrative depth.

“This is definitely a glam review, a style, an aesthetic, a genre that has always influenced me and attracted me to itself,” says curator Giorgio Chinea Canale. “Glam in its most archaic definition is enchantment, fascination and magic. So is this exhibition: a wonder! It is the fruit of my seven-year-long research, which results in this dynamic, ironic exhibition presenting the work of fifteen artists, who with their visual imagery, strike straight to the heart with their vivacity and speed of communication.”

An exhibition in Cortina d'Ampezzo investigates the perennial metamorphosis of Neo Pop

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