The ANNOTICO Report

Most know about Italian Renaissance Art, Some about Italian Futuristic Art,
and the Italian Arte Povera Movement.
But Contemporary Art has not received the recognition that it deserves.

Milwaukee will host the first United States airing of works (as part of a
US Tour?) by living Italian artists Giuseppe Chiari, Claudio Francia,
Eugenio Miccini and Lamberto Pignotti. The exhibit --includes 40 works, 10
by each of the artists.This art exhibit coincides with this year's Festa
Italiana.

The following is a review of the Exhibit by Bobby Tanzilo, an Italian
Culture enthusiast, and a leader in the Milwaukee Italian Community.

Milwaukee.com
By Bobby Tanzilo
April 5, 2005

While Italy invariably pops to mind when thoughts turn to renaissance art
and architecture, few Americans are likely capable of naming an Italian
artist from the past two centuries (we're not counting Modigliani because
his fame was a part of the Parisian scene, not an Italian one).

Of course, folks who pay attention will know all about the Futurists and of
the first half of the 20th century and the Arte Povera movement that came
later. The art in a new exhibit at the Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette
University grew out of the Futurist movement and will introduce
Milwaukeeans to contemporary Italian art.

"La Poesia Visiva: Visual Poetry: Modern Art from Italy" opens April 7 and
is the first United States airing of works by living Italian artists
Giuseppe Chiari, Claudio Francia, Eugenio Miccini and Lamberto Pignotti.
The show will be on view through July 24, coincidentally, also the final
day of this year's Festa Italiana. The Haggerty will also publish a catalog
to accompany the exhibition.

The exhibit -- which includes 40 works, 10 by each of the artists -- is
launched with a talk on opening night by Dr. Simon Anderson, associate
professor of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Francia will be on
hand for the opening and will speak to other groups at the museum during
his Milwaukee stay. A 7 p.m. reception follows the 6 p.m. lecture.

"The purpose of Visual Poetry is to provide the viewer with critical tools
to examine the role of interpersonal communication in the age of mass
media," said Haggerty director and the show's curator Curtis L. Carter.
"The Visual Poetry artists believe that the purpose of art is to engage in
critical activity. By juxtaposing words and visual elements they hope to
engage the viewers to critique the role of mass media."

Like some of the works by Futurists like Carlo Carra and Filippo Marinetti,
the Visual Poetry artists incorporate found text cut from magazines and
newspapers, but, according to Carter, Visual Poetry expands on its
predecessor by linking ordinary language and popular media. However, unlike
the Pop Art purveyors working in the United States at the same time as the
Visual Poetry artists, the latter maintained a critical edge, rather than
simply reflecting cultural values and imagery.

Florence-born Lamberto Pignotti, who now lives in Rome, was influenced by
the avant-garde, Futurists and Dada artists and writers, which led to his
experimentation with verbal-visual art. In 1963, he founded the Gruppo 70
collective of Visual Poetry artists. This group led to the visual poet
collective Gruppo 63 which coined the term Poesia Visiva (Visual Poetry).

Eugenio Miccini was also born in Florence, where in 1961, he won first
prize at the City of Florence poetry competition and served as editor of
"Literature." Miccini also gained inspiration from Futurism, Surrealism and
Dadaism. In 1962 he began writing visual poetry and he co-founded both the
Gruppo 70 and Gruppo 63.

A third Florentine, Giuseppe Chiari studied engineering and music at
university and for a half century he has experimented with musical
composition. In 1961, he founded the Vita Musicale Contemporanea
(Contemporary Musical Life Association) with Piero Grossi and the following
year he became part of the Fluxus movement (which also included Yoko Ono
and musician Beck's grandfather).

Claudio Francia was born in Pesaro, in the Marches region of Italy in 1952,
but moved to Paris as a child. He later moved to London, returning to Paris
in 1984. There he wrote, painted and made videos, which led to his films in
the style of a magazine. These productions, which attempted to convey the
ideas of authors, poets, playwrights and musicians, were aired on French TV
and acquired by museums.

The Haggerty Museum's Web site has directions, opening hours and parking
information and is marquette.edu/haggerty.

http://onmilwaukee.com/ent/
articles/visiva.html?6604

The ANNOTICO Reports are Posted and Archived at:
<< www.ItaliaMia.com >> and
<< www.ItalyStL.com >>