Arte Povera
Encyclopedia
Arte Povera is a modern art
movement. The term was introduced in Italy
during the period of upheaval at the end of the 1960s
, when artists were taking a radical
stance. Artists began attacking the values of established institutions of government, industry, and culture, and even questioning whether art as the private expression of the individual still had an ethical reason to exist. Italian art critic Germano Celant
organized two exhibitions in 1967 and 1968, followed by an influential book published by Electa in 1985 called Arte Povera Storie e protagonisti/Arte Povera. Histories and Protagonists, promoting the notion of a revolutionary art, free of convention, the power of structure, and the market place. Although Celant attempted to encompass the radical elements of the entire international scene, the term properly centered on a group of Italian artists who attacked the corporate mentality with an art of unconventional materials and style. They often used found object
s in their works. Other early exponents of radical change in the visual arts include proto Arte Povera artists: Antoni Tàpies
and the Dau al Set
movement, and Lucio Fontana
and Spatialism
.
The most wide-ranging public collection of works from the Arte Povera movement is at the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein
.
began painting on mirrors in 1962, connecting painting with the constantly changing realities in which the work finds itself. In the later sixties he began bringing together rags with casts of omnipresent classical statuary of Italy to break down the hierarchies of "art" and common things. An art of impoverished materials is certainly one aspect of the definition of Arte Povera. In his 1967 Muretto di straci (Rag Wall) Pistoletto makes an exotic and opulent tapestry wrapping common bricks in discarded scraps of fabric.
Artists such as Jannis Kounellis
and Mario Merz
attempted to make the experience of art more immediately real while also more closely connecting the individual to nature.
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
movement. The term was introduced in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
during the period of upheaval at the end of the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
, when artists were taking a radical
Political radicalism
The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...
stance. Artists began attacking the values of established institutions of government, industry, and culture, and even questioning whether art as the private expression of the individual still had an ethical reason to exist. Italian art critic Germano Celant
Germano Celant
Germano Celant is an Italian art historian, critic and curator, mostly renewed for being one of the founding members of the "Arte Povera" movement in 1967....
organized two exhibitions in 1967 and 1968, followed by an influential book published by Electa in 1985 called Arte Povera Storie e protagonisti/Arte Povera. Histories and Protagonists, promoting the notion of a revolutionary art, free of convention, the power of structure, and the market place. Although Celant attempted to encompass the radical elements of the entire international scene, the term properly centered on a group of Italian artists who attacked the corporate mentality with an art of unconventional materials and style. They often used found object
Found object
A found object, in an artistic sense, indicates the use of an object which has not been designed for an artistic purpose, but which exists for another purpose already. Found objects may exist either as utilitarian, manufactured items, or things which occur in nature...
s in their works. Other early exponents of radical change in the visual arts include proto Arte Povera artists: Antoni Tàpies
Antoni Tàpies
Antoni Tàpies i Puig, 1st Marquess of Tàpies is a Catalan painter. He is one of the most famous European artists of his generation. After studying law for 3 years, he devoted himself from 1943 onwards only to his painting...
and the Dau al Set
Dau al Set
Dau al Set , the first post-World War II artistic movement in Catalonia, was founded in Barcelona in October 1948 by poet Joan Brossa. The avant-garde group had connections to the Surrealist and Dadaist movements and stressed the importance of both the conscious and unconscious in their works...
movement, and Lucio Fontana
Lucio Fontana
Lucio Fontana was an Italian painter, sculptor and theorist of Argentine birth. He was mostly known as the founder of Spatialism and his ties to Arte Povera.-Early life:...
and Spatialism
Spatialism
Spatialism is an art movement founded by Italian artist Lucio Fontana in Milan in 1947 in which he grandiosely intended to synthesize colour, sound, space, movement, and time into a new type of art. The main ideas of the movement were anticipated in his Manifesto blanco published in Buenos Aires...
.
The most wide-ranging public collection of works from the Arte Povera movement is at the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein
The Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein is the state museum of modern and contemporary art in Vaduz. The building by the Swiss architects Meinrad Morger, Heinrich Degelo and Christian Kerez was completed in November 2000...
.
Artists
Michelangelo PistolettoMichelangelo Pistoletto
Michelangelo Pistoletto is an Italian painter, action and object artist, and art theorist. Pistoletto is acknowledged as one of the main representatives of the Italian Arte Povera...
began painting on mirrors in 1962, connecting painting with the constantly changing realities in which the work finds itself. In the later sixties he began bringing together rags with casts of omnipresent classical statuary of Italy to break down the hierarchies of "art" and common things. An art of impoverished materials is certainly one aspect of the definition of Arte Povera. In his 1967 Muretto di straci (Rag Wall) Pistoletto makes an exotic and opulent tapestry wrapping common bricks in discarded scraps of fabric.
Artists such as Jannis Kounellis
Jannis Kounellis
Jannis Kounellis was born on March 23, 1936 in Piraeus, Greece. He studied in art college in Athens until 1956 and at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome....
and Mario Merz
Mario Merz
Mario Merz was an Italian artist, and husband of Marisa Merz.-Life:Born in Milan, Merz started drawing during World War II, when he was imprisoned for his activities with the Giustizia e Libertà antifascist group. He experimented with a continuous graphic stroke–not removing his pencil point from...
attempted to make the experience of art more immediately real while also more closely connecting the individual to nature.
List of Artists
- Giovanni Anselmo
- Alighiero BoettiAlighiero BoettiAlighiero Fabrizio Boetti known as Alighiero e Boetti was an Italian conceptual artist, considered to be a member of the art movement Arte Povera....
- Pier-Paolo Calzolari
- Rossella Cosentino
- Luciano FabroLuciano FabroLuciano Fabro was an Italian artist associated with the Arte Povera movement.-Life:Born in Turin, Fabro moved to Milan in 1959, continuing to live and work there until his death....
- Lucio FontanaLucio FontanaLucio Fontana was an Italian painter, sculptor and theorist of Argentine birth. He was mostly known as the founder of Spatialism and his ties to Arte Povera.-Early life:...
- Piero Gilardi
- Jannis KounellisJannis KounellisJannis Kounellis was born on March 23, 1936 in Piraeus, Greece. He studied in art college in Athens until 1956 and at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome....
- Ondrej MaresOndrej MaresOndrej Mares was a Czech-Australian artist and furniture designer that lived in Macclesfield, in South Australia. His work has been exhibited in Adelaide, Sydney and Prague. Mares is most famous for his Kachina pieces. In 2002, he was diagnosed with cancer. This had the effect of moving his work...
- Mario MerzMario MerzMario Merz was an Italian artist, and husband of Marisa Merz.-Life:Born in Milan, Merz started drawing during World War II, when he was imprisoned for his activities with the Giustizia e Libertà antifascist group. He experimented with a continuous graphic stroke–not removing his pencil point from...
- Marisa MerzMarisa MerzMarisa Merz is an Italian sculptor, widow of artist Mario Merz. She now lives in Milan.-Life:Marisa Merz was born in Turin, Italy in 1931. In the 1950s she met Mario Merz who was studying there, and they later got married...
- Giulio PaoliniGiulio PaoliniGiulio Paolini is an Italian artist. Often linked to the Arte Povera movement, he is best known for an artistic practice that is inscribed in a more strictly conceptual sphere.-Biography:Paolini was born in Genoa....
- Pino PascaliPino PascaliPino Pascali was an Italian artist, sculptor, set designer and performer.-Biography:Pino Pascali was born in Bari, Italy in 1936 and moved to Rome in 1955 to learn scene painting and set design at the Academy of Art...
- Giuseppe PenoneGiuseppe PenoneGiuseppe Penone is an Italian artist. Penone started working professionally in 1968 in the Garessio forest, near where he was born. He is the younger member of the Italian movement named "Arte Povera", this term has been coined by Germano Celant. Penone's work is concerned with establishing a...
- Michelangelo PistolettoMichelangelo PistolettoMichelangelo Pistoletto is an Italian painter, action and object artist, and art theorist. Pistoletto is acknowledged as one of the main representatives of the Italian Arte Povera...
- John Roloff
- Gilberto Zorio
- Helene BlackHelene BlackHelene Black is a Cypriot artist and curator working with various media. She has been exhibited in museums and contemporary art centers in Cyprus, Argentina, France, the UK, US, Japan, Greece, Switzerland, Denmark, Russia and Australia.-Overview:...
External links
- Germano Celant, Arte povera, history and stories,Electa
- Fineberg, Jonathan, Art Since 1940 Strategies of Being
- Arte Povera at Artcyclopedia
- Walker Art Museum exhibit, 2001-2002
- Tate Collection glossary
- Studio International magazine review of Arte Povera exhibit