An exhibition in Terni on Italian art from postwar to postmodern with works by Fontana, Burri, Merz, De Dominicis and others

An exhibition, in Umbria, on Italian art from 1949 onward, with big names such as those of Lucio Fontana, Alberto Burri, Giuseppe Capogrossi, Piero Manzoni, Mario Merz, Enrico Castellani, Gino De Dominicis and many others: this is the review Immaginaria. Logics of Art in Italy since 1949, curated by Bruno Corà, which offers a reflection on the most incisive artistic experiences that took place in Italy from the immediate aftermath of World War II until the advent of the so-called “postmodern condition,” the computer age and the onset of globalization.

The event is organized by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Terni e Narni, which is hosting it from Dec. 20, 2019, to March 1, 2020, at its headquarters in Palazzo Montani Leoni in Terni. Bruno Corà says the exhibition is intended “to emphasize the contribution of the individual logics implemented with their works by those artistic personalities who have distinguished themselves at certain salient moments in the development of visual culture in Italy. Without presuming, of course, to be able to totally reflect the complex artistic fabric generated in our country over the course of more than half a century, but proceeding in an exemplary manner and exhibiting mostly individual linguistic pronouncements distinctive of as many poetics.”

Immaginaria will propose a reconnaissance of artistic compositions adhering to shared movements or aesthetic directions. To give an account of the outstanding pictorial and plastic productions that in the second half of the twentieth century imposed themselves nationally and internationally, while indicating openings on the visual cultures of other countries."

“This is the case,” highlights Corà, “of artists such as Fontana, Burri, Capogrossi, Afro, Cagli, Colla, Dorazio, and Accardi in the 1940s-1950s and later Rotella, Lo Savio, Uncini, Schifano, Manzoni, Castellani, and Agnetti in the 1960s-1970s, but also by Kounellis, Merz, Fabro, Boetti, and furthermore, in the same 1970s by artists such as Spagnulo, Gastini, Carrino, De Dominicis, Alfano, and numerous others who distinguished themselves until the climate of return to painting in the 1980s. Each of these artists expressed his or her own ideational and formative ’logic’ of the work while strongly emphasizing his or her individuality, a salient aspect in contemporary art and even more so in that which has matured since the postwar period in Italy.”

The exhibition is also meant to be an opportunity to discover the exhibition’s container, the precious Palazzo Montani Leoni, in the heart of Terni. The palace, as evidenced by the inscription on the entrance portal at the back, dates back to 1584. In the second half of the nineteenth century, following an urban intervention that led to the opening of the “Strada Nuova,” the building underwent a profound rearrangement. The current appearance, with the beautiful facade, the work of architect Benedetto Faustini, is the result of that intervention, which also involved several rooms on the main floor, decorated mainly between 1887 and 1913, while preserving paintings dating back to the palace’s first layout. “The Foundation’s objective in promoting this exhibition is to make it accessible to the widest possible public. For this reason, we wanted admission to the palace and the exhibition to be completely free. We want no one, who is interested, to feel limited in being able to access an exhibition that offers such a timely reflection on the artistic events from the post-World War II period leading up to the present day,” stresses President Carlini.

For all information you can visit the official website of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Terni e Narni.

Pictured: Alberto Burri, Combustion (1961; acrylic, paper, cardboard, vinavil, fabric, combustion on canvas, 34 x 51 cm)

An exhibition in Terni on Italian art from postwar to postmodern with works by Fontana, Burri, Merz, De Dominicis and others

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