Arte Povera

Arte Povera ("poor art" or "impoverished art") is an avant-garde art movement that originated in Italy between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, most notably in Turin. The movement also developed in other major cities, including Milan, Rome, Genoa, Venice, Naples, and Bologna.

It comprised the work of approximately a dozen Italian artists who employed commonplace materials, often associated with a pre-industrial era, such as earth, rocks, clothing, paper, and rope.^[1] These literally "poor" or inexpensive materials were repurposed in their artistic practices, challenging established notions of value and propriety, offering a subtle critique of the industrialization and mechanization of Italy, and representing a reaction against the modernist abstract painting that had prevailed in European art during the 1950s.

This reaction was emphasized by a focus on sculptural work rather than painting. The group also rejected American Minimalism, particularly its perceived enthusiasm for technology and dominance in the art world. While exhibiting some Post-Minimalist tendencies in its opposition to modernism and technology, Arte Povera maintained distinctly Italian aesthetic and strategic characteristics, particularly in its evocation of the past, locality, and memory.

History[]

The term "Arte Povera" was coined by Italian art critic Germano Celant in 1967. Its introduction in Italy coincided with a period of upheaval in the late 1960s, during which artists were increasingly adopting radical stances and challenging the values of established institutions, including government, industry, and culture. The movement's emergence is linked to a decline in the dominance of abstract painting in Italy and a renewed interest in avant-garde approaches from the 1920s and 1930s, such as Surrealism.

Precursors to Arte Povera and early exponents of radical change in the visual arts include Antoni Tàpies and the Dau al Set movement from Catalonia, Alberto Burri, Piero Manzoni, and Lucio Fontana and Spatialism. Art dealer Ileana Sonnabend also played a role in championing the movement.

The work of Alberto Burri, Piero Manzoni, and Lucio Fontana, all active in Italy in the early 20th century, is considered significant in anticipating Arte Povera. Burri's work, which included paintings made from burlap sacks, exemplified the use of "poor" materials as an avant-garde strategy. His use of burlap, tar, and sand to create abstract works on canvas provided an early precedent for Arte Povera's material choices. Manzoni's work, which prefigured aspects of Conceptual art, reacted against abstract painting and Art Informel. He employed simple concepts and humorous subversion to challenge traditional artistic boundaries. His work "Artist's Shit" (1961), consisting of cans supposedly containing his own excrement, is a notable example. Fontana's monochrome paintings, often featuring slashes or punctures, demonstrated the power of art reduced to essential elements. This reduction, rather than limiting the aesthetic impact, concentrated the viewer's attention.

Early exhibitions of artists associated with Arte Povera were held at the Christian Stein Gallery in Turin, directed by Margherita Stein. The exhibition "IM Spazio" (The Space of Thoughts), curated by Celant and held at the Galleria La Bertesca in Genoa from September to October 1967, is often considered the official starting point of the Arte Povera movement.

Celant organized the first survey of this trend, "Arte Povera e Im Spazio," held at the Galleria La Bertesca in Genoa in 1967. This exhibition included work by Alighiero Boetti, Luciano Fabro, Jannis Kounellis, Giulio Paolini, Pino Pascali, and Emilio Prini. The artworks featured in the exhibition employed everyday or "poor" materials. Examples include Boetti's "Pile" (1966-67), consisting of asbestos blocks, Fabro's "Floor Tautology" (1967), which highlighted the act of cleaning a floor, and Pascali's "Cubic Meters of Earth" (1967), which contrasted natural soil with geometric forms. Celant's curatorial approach emphasized the intrusion of the banal into the realm of art, encouraging viewers to reconsider the significance of ordinary materials and actions.

Two months after the inaugural exhibition, Celant published "Arte Povera: Notes for a Guerilla War," a manifesto that expanded the group to include Giovanni Anselmo, Piero Gilardi, Mario Merz, Gianni Piacentino, Michelangelo Pistoletto, and Gilberto Zorio. This manifesto defined Arte Povera conceptually, emphasizing the artists' shared desire to dismantle "the dichotomy between art and life." This aim reflected a revolutionary impulse and a pursuit of alternative social models prevalent in many subcultural movements of the late 20th century.

Sculpture[]

Sculpture is a medium closely associated with Arte Povera. In part, this emphasis on sculpture arose from the artists' rejection of abstract and minimalist painting styles dominant in the 1960s art market. Arte Povera artists created objects that often required interaction from the audience or institution to function. Examples include Giovanni Anselmo's Untitled (1968), which necessitates the ongoing replacement of lettuce, and Michelangelo Pistoletto's Minus Objects, which are "completed" by viewer interaction.

Arte Povera sculpture frequently explored the relationship between the natural and the artificial, or at least drew attention to their distinction. This exploration is evident in the use and display of materials, such as the juxtaposition of water and earth within geometric frames. The contrast between industrial processes and bodily fluids, waste, or discarded objects is another recurring feature. By challenging the concept of the "grand object," Arte Povera artists aimed to highlight contradictions within the system of value assigned to art objects and the gallery space.

Philosophy[]

The philosophy of Arte Povera centered on a rejection of established art values and a critical engagement with the socio-economic context of post-war Italy. Artists associated with the movement questioned the increasing industrialization and mechanization of Italian society and the rise of consumer culture. They believed that modernity threatened to erase collective memory and tradition, key aspects of Italian cultural heritage. To counter this, Arte Povera sought to juxtapose the new with the old, the processed with the pre-industrial, aiming to disrupt the audience's perception of time and progress.

In contrast to American minimalism's perceived enthusiasm for technology and scientific rationalism, Arte Povera artists often evoked a world of myth and subjective experience, resisting easy rational explanation. They presented unexpected and sometimes absurd juxtapositions of materials, pointing out the dissonance between the natural and the artificial, the commonplace and the elevated. This approach aimed to reveal the contradictions inherent in the value system assigned to art objects and the gallery space.

The movement's emphasis on "poor" or commonplace materials was not solely an aesthetic choice but also a philosophical statement.Inexpensive and ubiquitous materials like earth, rocks, clothing, paper, and rope, were employed by Arte Povera artists to challenge traditional notions of artistic value and propriety. This material choice also subtly critiqued the commercialization of art and the dominance of the art market. The focus on process and the inherent qualities of the materials themselves showed the movement's anti-materialist stance. Arte Povera artists aimed to provoke a direct and subjective response in the viewer, emphasizing an unrepeatable and original interaction with the artwork, thereby reconnecting art with the immediacy of life.