WE, THOSE OF THE WORD THAT ALWAYS WALK
Museum of the Commenda di Pré, Gênova
From 03/09 to 03/10/2010
(catalog éditions ContemporArt)
BANDITI DELL'ARTE, in all its poetic force, is the first major exhibition dedicated to the exceptional Italian creation. It opens a door to the particular universe of individuals they have created outside of any official artistic system or recognized cultural entities, from Cesare Lombroso's collections to contemporary creation. In the first part, BANDITI DELL'ARTE presents works from historical psychiatric and prison collections: the Lombroso Museum and the Museum of Anthropology in Turin, the San Lazzaro Hospital in Reggio Emilia (Documentation Center for the History of Psychiatry). Among these still reserved works, Il Nuovo Mondo by Francesco Toris (1863-1918) undoubtedly has, in this exhibition, the strength of a paradigm. Its individual, utopian, imperious dimension characterizes the spirit of the bandits of art. Since the entry into force of the Basaglia law in 1978 aimed at the de-institutionalization of the psychiatric hospital, the marginal creation has found refuge in laboratories without therapeutic intentions such as Tinaia in Florence, Asfodelo in Parma, Blue Cammelo in Livorno or Manica Lunga in Sospiro (Cremona) .
In this context, Franco Belluci, Giovani Galli, Tarcisio Merati, Francesco Borrello, Marco Raugei, among others, were able to achieve the miracle of the work. The second part of the exhibition is dedicated to representatives of contemporary popular art who, without proceeding from the radical mental collapse of the authors of brut art proper, are completely independent from the system of fine arts
to create a cultural and institutional protest. The seized doors by Francesco Nardi, the paintings by Pietro Ghizzardi, the wooden sculptures by Rosario Lattuca and Luigi Buffo, the bas-reliefs in​​ stone of Nello Ponzi and Giuseppe Barbiero are the most significant testimonies. Relative to an imaginary ethnology, Luigi Lineri's work, by systematically collecting and classifying stones, shakes the concept of installation. In the same way Giovanni Bosco and Melina Riccio create their own street art outside of any collective orchestration, inscribing their inner word on the walls of the city. Spontaneous creation is also expressed in fantastic constructions and environments. Impossible to move or duplicate, they are present through photographic or video evidence, the only means capable of recording and preserving the memory of these open-air architectures.